Moon's Fang
by lazyllama-xx
Summary: Kuchiki Rukia is a princess who was kidnapped at her wedding by pirates. She's now stuck on a 4-month voyage across sea with the most frustrating person she can think of...
1. Refuge

**_Ohayo minna-san! ^^ This is my third bleach fanfic, and i hope you enjoy it! It was originally IchiXOC, but i changed it to IchiRuki due to a sudden obsession with that pairing ^^_**

**_I hope you like it! Chapter 1-Refuge_**

* * *

'How much longer?', a voice asked quietly. The voice's owner was sitting in the shadows, long legs poking out into the sun, one arm resting on his thigh. The rest of him was concealed in the shadows.

'About 3 days, sir!' a man replied eagerly, jumping down from a rope.

The ship glided smoothly over the ravaging sea, dark and menacing. Aboard, the 12-strong crew were doing various activities. Some playing cards, others arguing, some sleeping, some mock-fighting.

A young woman skipped halfway down a small flight of stairs, leaning over the railing to stare down at the shadowy figure. She tilted her head, orange locks swaynig slightly in the sea breeze. She opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off.

'Don't start again, Inoue', the voice from the shadows said wearily. 'It's too late to turn back anyway'

The girl called Inoue sighed. 'I just think this is a bad idea, that's all'

A pair of lips, corners upturned, were exposed temporarily as the ship went over a wave, sending a ray of sunlight into the shadowy corner.

'Then don't think', the shadow suggested. Inoue narrowed her eyes and walked off.

With a smirk, the figure continued staring at the slowly setting sun.

* * *

There was nowhere I loved more than the small meadow outside my palace. Lush green grass swayed in the ever present breeze, ripples appearing the small aqua-coloured pool. The pool itself was surrounded by yellow flowers, small white and blue lilies floating on the surface.

Yes, it was the perfect place to escape reality. To escape-

'Kuchiki-sama' a voice called from nearby. 'It is time to get ready!'

I sighed, my reflection in the pond looking up at me sadly. Thus, this perfect little world couldn't last long. Before long, I would have to go back to my duties.

'Your mother wishes to see you about this afternoon' the young messenger said bowing. 'I apologize for disturbing you'

I didn't turn my head to acknowledge the young girl, instead keeping my eyes glued to the pool. With an unladylike huff of anger, I stood up, walking briskly out of the meadow and in the direction of the palace. My two maids hurried to stay beside me.

'Umm, Kuchiki-sama' One of the maids asked timidly. 'Your mother won't like what you've done to your dress…again.'

I sighed. 'Ayami, how many times must I tell you to call me _Rukia?' _

Ayami smiled. 'Your mother threatened to fire us if we didn't address you properly, _Rukia-hime-sama'_

I growled, making Ayami laugh.

'Are we still going to that party this afternoon?' my other maid, Hisako, asked hopefully.

I sighed again. 'I doubt it' I mumbled. 'My dear mother is starting to get suspicious of what I do at night'

Hisako groaned. 'If you miss out it'll be boring!'

'It's not my fault!' I exclaimed indignantly. 'It's not like I want to meet…' I bit my lip as my voice trailed off.

Ayami smirked. '_Your fiancé'_

I huffed angrily again. 'Please don't say that! It's bad enough I'm only _15!'_

The three of us fell into silence, Hisako humming randomly. It was against the rules for servants to address their masters without proper honorifics, but Ayami and Hisako had been serving me for a very long time, in which we became good friends. If my step-mother, Nanao, found out about this friendship, she no doubt would've replaced my maids a long time ago.

Before long, the three of us were at the huge palace doors. Two servants immediately opened them at my presence, bowing as they stepped aside to let me in.

The three of us remained silent as we arrived at the meeting hall, where my mother and father were waiting for me.

'Rukia...' my brother, Byakuya, was a man of few words. He was also the king. Next to him sat my stepmother, Nanao.

There are four main kingdoms, located close to each other, and far away from any other country. Kuchiki, Ukitake, Hitsugaya, Shiba. Kuchiki and Shiba are mortal enemies. They've been at war for a century. A war that started with the death of their uniting king, Sousuke. Neither kingdom would submit to the other kingdom's chosen ruler, Kuchiki Senri and Shiba Kain.

So the war between the two of them started. Both Kuchiki and Shiba still got along with the other two kingdoms, just not each other. All four kingdoms are separated by sea.

The war between Kuchiki and Shiba was to be resolved with the marriage of the heirs to the thrones, me and Shiba Kaien. Kaien was 18,I was 15. He had been ready to get married for years; I was suddenly told a few months ago!

'Rukia, what have you done to your clothes!' Nanao shrieked, glaring at me. I sighed.

'And what have I told you about sighing?' Nanao snapped. 'It's un-princess like! And you're meeting you soon-to-be husband soon!'

I drowned out my mother's nagging voice for the next few minutes, thinking of a way to get to the party later on without being noticed. It was a masquerade, my favourite type.

'Can you _please _stop destroying your clothes?' Nanao said desperately, eyeing me critically.

I looked down at me clothes. This morning, as it is every morning, I had been dressed in a silk and lace pink dress, my hair put neatly into a bun, light makeup put on, fancy shoes slipped on my feet.

Throughout the day, like everyday, I washed off the makeup, undid the tight bun, letting my black hair fall over my shoudlers, slipped off the painful shoes, and rolled up the sleeves of my tight dress.

'This isn't what a princess should look like!' Nanao snapped. She turned to my maids.

'You two! Make sure she is _adequate_ by this evening', she demanded. '_Make sure she doesn't ruin it!'_

Ayami and Hisako bowed, murmuring 'Yes, Kuchiki-sama' before bowing to me, waiting for me to leave first.

I spun on my heel, mumbling darkly, and stormed out the door, Ayami and Hisako following behind me.

Ayami grinned. 'Dragon-lady is even more moody than usual'

'It's cause of my _fiancé's _arrival this evening' I muttered, turning a corner.

Ayami and Hisako looked at each other and shrugged. Before long, they arrived at my room, opening the heavy wooden doors.

My room was huge. A large bed took up a lot of the room, positioned in the middle of the room, against a wall. Nearby was a half-wall length walk-in wardrobe, full of the latest, frilly, girly princess dresses, neatly aligned with matching shoes underneath. A huge portrait of me, with my parents behind me, took up the rest of the wall above the bed.

That portrait was of happier times, before my mother turned cruel and vulture-like. Before Daiyu had died…

'What to wear, what to wear?' Hisako said sarcastically, walking the length of the wardrobe.

I flopped on my massive bed, looking up at the rich red canopy above me. 'Anything. It's all the same anyways'

* * *

**_Well, there you have it. Like it, read more Please review!_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama_**


	2. News

**_yo_**

**_chapter 2!_**

* * *

'Remember, no sighing, groaning, moaning or any other un-princessy sounds, ok?'

I rolled my eyes.

'And none of that too!' Nanao snapped. 'Now straighten up, and hold your head high'

she descended down the steps first, setting an example for me. I gave an inaudible sigh and descended after mother, taking her urgent advice. There was a short fanfare, followed by the clattering of important, slow footsteps. I winced.

I hated the fanfares. They were _so _unnecessary. Every time one of the royals visited from one of the other 3 kingdoms, everything would be cleaned spotless, the servants threatened with firing if they didn't stay impeccably polite, and the royals from the visited kingdom taking more etiquette lessons. It was a never ending challenge to see who was best.

'Presenting: King of Shiba kingdom, Aizen Sousuke', a booming voice announced. 'And…'

My mother, brother and I stood straight and proud at the bottom of the stairs, eyes towards a distant door, where my _fiancé_ and his uncle would be arriving soon.

Aizen Sousuke came in, tall and handomse, followed by…

My breath caught.

'…heir to the Shiba throne, Shiba Kaien'

The young man walking imperially behind his father responded to my blank expression with one of his own, looking at me wide, hazel-green eyes partly covered by a slight fringe of spiky black hair. He was a lot taller than me.

My heart melted. What was this…sensation? My emotions were in turmoil, with a feeling of suddenly falling from a great height.

Was this love at first sight?

I blinked as suddenly the king and his heir were in front of me and my parents.

'Kuchiki…_-kun' _Aizen said in a slight sneer. Byakuya forced a smile.

'Sousuke-kun, it's been too long' he said through gritted teeth.

Silence.

Nanao smiled thinly and glared at her husband., subtley elbowing him in the ribs. The electricity between the two glaring men stopped. I snapped out of my daze, blinking confusedly. I looked back at Kaien, who was already staring at me. When I met his eyes, we both blushed and looked away.

'Well…I guess we should let the two of you get better acquainted' Nanao said, laughing loudly.

'You are getting married after all' Aizen smiled thinly, as if it was some hidden joke. Kaien looked as if he was stifling a heavy sigh.

Nanao smiled at Aizen and gestured for both him and her husband to follow her. They followed behind, each one trying to get in front of the other, jamming up at the door.

'So, uh, s-should we…go for a walk?' I blurted out.

_Gah! Why am I stuttering?_

Kaien nodded, offering his arm for me to take. With another little blush I grasped his arm gently, letting him lead the way over to the double doors.

* * *

'I think I'm in love', I murmured as I flopped on my bed. Hisako slid off my shoes with a grunt of effort, stumbling back.

'You shouldn't be wearing these', she said, frowning at the shoes. 'And stand up' she added, dropping the shoes.

I did as she asked, dazed. Hisako moved behind me and started unlacing the strings at the back of the purple dress. She paused, looking over at Ayami. The young girl was sitting on the window sill, looking out sadly.

'Ayami, are you alright?' Hisako asked confused.

'My brother's been kidnapped by pirates' Ayami whispered, not looking away from the window.

'Oh!' Hisako said, dropping her hands. I looked over at Ayami sadly. 'H-how?

Ayami looked at her with narrowed eyes. 'He got kidnapped by pirates' Hisako and I sweat dropped.

There was a knock on my door, and the three of us jumped. Ayami jumped up, wiping a tear from her eye, and I straightened up, my thoughts still at my fiancé, and my wedding in less than two months…

Kuchiki Nanao came striding into the room, her four maids outside. 'Rukia!' she barked. 'Hurry up and get ready for bed!'

Ayami bolted towards my vast wardrobe, pulling out a light blue nightgown and rushing over to me.

Nanao brushed past me and sat at my dresser, smoothing out her impeccably straight black hair. She looked at my reflection in the mirror and narrowed her eyes.

'You should do something with your hair', she criticized. 'It's abnormally straight', hyprocritical much?

Byakuya had long, straight black hair too, with two white clips in it, a symbol of royalty. Nanao looked little like me, fitting as we were barely related. Most royal families tend to marry within the bloodline, as to keep it pure. My sister, Hisana, had married into the Kuchik family. When she died, she asked Byakuya to look over me, which he did, and now i'm here.

'It's not my fault, mother', I muttered, twirling a strand of my hair between my fingers.

Nanao rolled her eyes, a habit she always lectured me on not doing, and started pacing around the room.

'Now, in 2 days we're having your wedding dress fitted' she announced. 'Then I need to find a proper location for you too actually get married at, an-'

'Why are we doing this so early?' I interrupted. 'The wedding isn't for about 2 months'

'Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking!' Nanao snapped, pausing in her pacing. 'And your wedding isn't in two months'

She strode over to the door, her servants stepping aside, bowing.

I frowned. 'Did you move the wedding date down?'

Nanao paused again, outside the door. She glanced at me over her shoulder. 'No. We moved it up. The wedding is in 3 weeks'

With that the doors closed behind her, leaving the three of us in a horrified silence.

* * *

**_yes, incest did exist back in those days. ICK! If i didn't mention before, this fic is based on the days of Pirates of the caribbean! XD_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama_**


	3. Wedding crashers

**_yo agen! _**

* * *

'Almost…_there_!' Hisako panted with a relieved sigh, stepping back from her handiwork.

'I can't breathe', I said in a high-pitched voice, clutching my chest.

Hisako huffed. 'Well it's not my fault your dear mother wants you to wear a damned corset!'

I let out a shaky laugh. 'These things are death traps', I muttered darkly. 'I never saw the point of these'

'Your wedding is today', Ayami reminded me. '_You need to fit in it perfectly'_, she said in a perfect imitation of Nanao.

Hisako and I giggled.

'You're not fat or anything though…' Hisako said frowning. 'In fact, if you get any skinnier, you'll probably die' I rolled my eyes.

'Are you going to…?' Ayami hesitated. I looked at her questioningly.

'Are you going to stay here, at the palace, or will you move somewhere with your beloved prince?' she finished sadly.

I suddenly felt cold. She hadn't thought about that. Ayami and Hisako were my best friends. How could I survive without them?

'I-I'll find a way for us to stay together!' I said warmly, smiling. 'I'm never gonna leave you guys!' Hisako and Ayami glanced at each other, unconvinced .

There was a knock at the door, and Hisako went to answer it swiftly. A group of blue-clad maids strode in, making a beeline for me. I yelped as I disappeared under a mass of hands, being gently pushed and shoved. I saw a swish of white and sequins, and smelt something sweetly floral.

After a few confused minutes, my vision cleared, and I gasped, Hisako and Ayami's gasps echoing mine.

I was now wearing a pure white silk dress that fit like a glove, with straps that enclosed gracefully just under my shoulders. The material flowed smoothly to the ground, intricate designs moving in a spiral.

A single tear escaped my black-outlined eyes, trailing down my cheek. One of the make-up ladies wiped it away, murmuring something and smiling.

'R-Rukia-sama, you look beautiful!' Ayami gasped, grinning along with a nodding Hisako.

'Yes it is', I whispered, referring to the dress.

* * *

'Breath, Rukia, breathe!' Nanao reminded me, clutching my shoulders. I shot a glare at her.

'I can't in this damned corset!' I snapped.

'Don't swear!' Nanao said in an equally snappy tone.

A sweet line of piano started, and I whimpered. Time to breathe again. Nanao looked me in the eyes.

'You're getting married.' she whispered happily, smiling a rare smile. 'Don't be nervous, you like him, right?'

I nodded, my pink cheeks invisible under all the makeup. I smoothed an imaginary loose strand of hair back into my perfect bun and took as deep a breath as I could.

Nanao nodded, straightening up proudly. A head popped in to the small silk pavilion.

'Ok, it's time to- Rukia you look beautiful!' Byakuya stated, face blank, but eyes burning. He walked over to me, placed his hands on my shoulders and disappeared. Like I said, a man of few words.

'Not now!' Nanao hissed. 'It's time!'

I laughed breathlessly and stood straight at the entry to the small silk pavilion, fighting the urge to bolt.

A light bridal chorus started, and the thin material pulled up slowly, revealing me to the vast crowd. One side was full of nobles from the Shiba kingdom, the other side filled with Kuchiki followers. Both sides were sneakily glaring at each other, noses high in the air. Nobles from Ukitake and Hitsugaya were also scattered throughout both sides. The crowd turned to stare at me, astounded murmurs rippling through them.

I blushed invisibly, beginning my slow walk down the lavender aisle.

There he was, my soon-to-be husband standing like an angel at the altar, a wide smile appearing on his face at the sight of me.

The next half-hour passed in a blur. I was vaguely aware of the minister's deep voice repeating vows he must have said hundreds of times.

'…Do you Shiba Kaien, take Kuchiki Rukia to be your life-long wife and queen?'

'I do', Kaien murmured, his hand temporarily tightening around mine.

'And do you, Kuchiki Rukia, take Shiba Kaien to be you life-long husband and king?'

Tears welled up in my eyes. 'I d-'

A shriek pierced the silent air.

All eyes turned to the source, gasps and screams echoing among the crowd.

A group of pirates stood at my preparation room. One of them, a tall fat man with a purple scarf, dropped the groaning body of a guard, where he hit the ground with a muffled thump.

I stood where I was, frozen to the spot. I heard a small groan from next to me, and turned my head slowly, disbelievingly. A tall, orange-haired was standing where the minister was, who was now collapsed on the ground moaning. She was holding a long blue dagger in each hand.

Kaien was engaged in battle, barely holding back 2 of the pirates. One of them kicked him in the stomach, where he flew back, landing heavily on the ground. He didn't move again.

Suddenly there was the flash of steel and shouts, along with the trampling of thousands of feet in a hurry to get away from the swordplay.

I let out a gasp as something jerked hard around my navel, pulling me back. With a wild scream, I squirmed, latching my elbow into something soft behind me, which let out an 'oof!' of air. I caught a whiff of flowers and a flash of orange, then suddenly my vision disappeared, rendering me unconscious.

* * *

Pain. Agonizing pain. A cold feeling in my gut, fire smoldering in my head.

'How hard did you hit her?' a distant voice asked.

'Not that hard!' a higher voice snapped 'She started struggling, so I decided to knock her out!'

'Well, she's a princess, you should've done it softer', the first voice said amused. 'She's probably not used to any rough treatment.'

There was an angry huff.

I opened bleary eyes, wining at the brightness above me. With a whimper/groan, I sat up, gasping as the room seemed to tilt, tipping me off whatever i had been lying on.

I hit the ground with a yelp, hissing in pain. The voices outside became silent. The door opened, and I gasped, scooting back till I hit a wall. Sunlight burst into the room, temporarily blinding me. What seemed to be about a dozen people were gathered outside the door, waiting for something.

The tall orange-haired girl looked down at me with a slight smirk, twisting a strange, blue-hilted dagger in her hands.

'Who... are you...?', I breathed, my heartbeat echoing in my ears. Orange-girl sighed and looked out the door. The sun was suddenly blocked out as a figure stood at the doorway. It took me a while to focus, then-

'Are you alright?' the stranger asked me carelessly. I narrowed my eyes, anger rising up like bile.

Without thinking, I stormed towards him, and slapped him across the face. There were a few gasps and chuckles. My eyes widened as I realized what I just did. The man tilted his head, seeming unharmed and smirked. My breath hitched.

It was like staring into an exact copy of Shiba Kaien, only a bit more good-looking. He had bright, spiky orange hair, warm, chocolate-coloured eyes, and was all-in-all very good-looking.

Not that I cared about that right now.

I was furious. This man dared to approach me calmly after he and his devil-spawned friends _destroyed _my _wedding?_ I would give the _captain_ an even bigger slap, or kick him so he will never be able to father children.

The man chuckled. 'I guess I haven't introduced myself.' His face was mostly blank, but there was a hint of amusement in his handsome features.

'Captain of _The Moon's Fang_, Kurosaki Ichigo'

* * *

**_oops bad idea, Rukia-chan! ^^_**

**_please review! It motivated me and makes me happy!_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	4. Meeting them

**_You have wasted about four seconds of yournlife reading this pointless message and you still are, so i suggest you stop._**

**_JOKING! i couldn't resist! ^^ anyways hi, and on with chapter 4! XD_**

* * *

My eyes widened. Oh dear. I _did _just hit the captain. My mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

Kurosaki let out a tiny smirk, before his face went back to blank. Suddenly, his hands enclosed around my wrists, and I yelped as he suddenly pulled me close, chocolate eyes only a few inches from mine. My brain froze.

'While you're on this ship, _princess,_ I suggest you behave yourself', he whispered, making me shiver. I narrowed my eyes and started struggling.

He released his tight hold on my wrists, sending me staggering back. My heartbeat in my ears, I ran over to the wall, looking out of the small glass window there. Kuchiki was slowly disappearing into the distance, my hope of getting back there lessening by the second.

I spun back around, chest heaving. 'Let me out of here', my voice was desperate and cracking. My vision blurred as tears began swelling.

One of the crew snorted 'Or what?'

'I'm a _princess' _I said, my voice a few octaves higher than normal. 'People will be after me!'

'We're already getting away quite quickly, and besides, we set something to slow them down' another crew member said grinning.

My heart was pounding, and I was experiencing the first real lick of fear in all my 15 years of royal life. I tried to keep my face straight as I glared at Kurosaki.

'What do you want with me?' my voice betrayed my emotions, cracking with fear.

'My boss wants you' Kurosaki said after a moment.

'Why?' I asked, frowning.

Kurosaki shrugged slightly. 'You'll see' with that, he turned to leave. I narrowed my eyes and grabbed the sleeve of his black coat, once again without thinking.

'What did I say about behaving?' Kurosaki muttered, flicking my hand off. He stopped at the door, murmuring something to the orange-haired girl.

She sighed, shooting a glare at him and nodding reluctantly. He walked back out the door, his small crew parting to let him through. The girl turned to me.

'Ok, _princess_' she said smirking. 'You'll be staying with us in the girl's cabin'

I didn't trust myself to speak, so I nodded, fear coursing through my veins. How was I going to get out of this? I was born and raised in the palace lifestyle, so I have no idea how to fight. The most I could do was throw a pure gold fork at somebody.

The crew moved off, muttering and glaring at me, going back to whatever they were doing before they crashed the Kuchiki-Shiba wedding. Great. The crew was already hostile to me.

I stayed in the small cargo room for a moment, trying to calm myself down. Kaien would probably set sail after me. That thought cheered me up slightly, my heart fluttering as his angelic face swam in my mind.

'Oi!' a young voice shouted. 'What'd I miss? What's happening?'

'But late now, Akira' a deep voice grumbled.

My head snapped over to the door once again. Akira? Wasn't that Ayami's brother?

I cautiously peeked out the door, ignoring the staring eyes, gasping when I saw a familiar brown-haired boy, a spitting image of Ayami except male.

'Akira!' I shrieked, running out of the room. Akira turned to see who called his name, eyes widening when he saw me.

'R-Rukia-sama?' he said incredulously, walking towards me.

'It's Rukia, remember?' I hadn't seen him since I was 10, but he was hard to forget. He was like his twin sister; mischievous, funny and surrounded by an infectious, happy aura.

'What are you doing here?' he asked, smiling as he released me from his hug. Fear immediately replaced the small happiness I had seeing him.

'I've been kidnapped by these _pirates_', I said dryly, ignoring the glares from the nearby crew. Akira's face fell.

'Oh, yeah they were talkin' bout somethin' like that', he mumbled, looking away from me guiltily.

I frowned. 'How did you end up kidnapped?' to my surprise, he laughed.

'I wasn't kidnapped' he said, flashing a smile.

'You weren't?' I said confused. He shook his head vigorously.

'I ran away' he explained. 'Ukitake can be a cruel place for those low on the food chain. I took a chance and snuck on here, where I was lucky enough to not be killed. So now I'm part of the crew.'

'How come they said you've been kidnapped?' Akira snorted.

'They don't want people to think their servants are out of their control, so they made up rumours'

'Ayami has been worried sick about you', I muttered. My heart thudded painfully as I suddenly realized I may never see them again.

'I have been considering getting off at Kuchiki, but I didn't know if Ayami was there'

'Oi! Get back to work, Akira!' a voice shouted form nearby. He sighed.

'I have clean-up duties for a month because of a betting game with some drunks when we landed on Hitsugaya' he explained, grimacing. 'It didn't go well, and they chased me back onto this ship, where they started a fight, and somehow a barrel of gunpowder got lit and made a giant hole in the ship' he shuddered. 'Kurosaki-taichou wasn't very happy with me'

I smiled slightly as he hurried off, grabbing a mop on the way. I felt eyes on me, so I hurried to the girls' cabin, which had a gold sign on it, decorated by a picture of a strange white rabbit, and a few smiley faces and pictures of foods. The men's cabin was a small distance away, twice as big as the girls' one.

I opened the door and quickly shut it behind me, leaning against it and ignoring some of the wolf-whistles directed at me. Damn pirates.

I gasped as I saw I wasn't alone. The orange-haired girl was swinging in a big, orange net-like bed, humming and weaving some brightly coloured string in her hands. The small light brown-haired girl was singing something, picking up objects off the floor and placing them in their correct places.

I was surprised this room was. It was fairly large for just 2 girls, with light wooden walls, decorated with painting and woven things, the floor covered by a thin, sea-coloured carpet that was placed in the middle. There were 2 of the strange nets on each wall, each wall decorated according to its occupant. Another door sat near the orange net, which I assumed to be the bathroom.

Both girls looked as I entered, the orange-haired girl frowning. I swallowed, trying hard not to hyperventilate, feeling hollow. Soon, reality would catch up with me and I would probably go into a hysterical escape frenzy.

'Hi, I'm Yuzu', the smallest girl said, smiling at me warmly. 'That's Inoue' she pointed to the other still frowning occupant.

I tried to smile, but it probably came out as a grimace. Yuzu giggled. I felt slightly warm. At least not everyone was hostile towards me. She walked over to a corner of the spacious room, pulling out a dark blue net, and walking back to me, holding it out.

I looked at it blankly. 'What is this?'

Yuzu giggled. 'That's right; they don't have these in palaces, huh?' I ignore the assumption, looking down at the strange object. Fishing net? Hisako told me about the fishermen and how they…fish.

'In case you're wondering, it's not a fishing net' oh. 'It's called a hammock'

She walked over to the door, standing on a small table, and strung the hammock onto two hooks on the ceiling.

The ground beneath my feet suddenly rose, and I yelped, stumbling back against the wall.

'Don't worry about that', Inoue said, not looking up from her knitting. 'We're on a ship so it always happens'

A ship? That's right; I'm on a pirate ship. I've never been sailing before, as my parents said it was overrated and too dangerous.

I didn't like it. The constant rocking was making me feel queasy. I walked over to the freshly strung up hammock, and sat on it, gasping as it shifted under my weight. For a moment I thought I was going to fall, breathing a sigh of relief when I didn't.

'Umm', Yuzu said, looking at me thoughtfully. 'Would you like a spare set of clothes?'

I looked down, my stomach churning as I saw I was still in my silk wedding dress, still in the tight corset and uncomfortable shoes, still wearing the lace head covering. My lip trembled, and a single tear slid down my eye.

'Uh, yeah, um, I can lend you some of my clothes' Yuzu said hurriedly. 'You're really small, so we look about the same size'

She pulled out a bright pink blouse and a pair of pants similar to hers. She strode over to me, placing them into my slightly raised arms. I automatically raised my arms out, waiting for Hisako and Ayami to change me.

Then I remembered they weren't here. I've never changed my own clothes before, as they were all dresses with tight string at the back.

I tried reaching for the back of the dress, but found it impossible. Stifling a frustrated sigh, I looked towards Yuzu for assistance. She smiled and walked over to me, undoing the strings.

'This dress is really beautiful!' she murmured, helping me out of it.

'Too bad I didn't get to use it' I muttered. Yuzu remained silent.

* * *

**_Reviews are very appreciated! ^^ _**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	5. First Night

**_hmm i duno wat 2 say..._**

* * *

'Do you have anything…less revealing?' I asked blushing. Yuzu tutted.

'You look fine!' she said. 'You're just a bit taller than me!' Yuzu had given me blue mid-thigh shorts, a light blue blouse and flat black shoes.

I opened the door after I changed, washing myself quickly and releasing my hair from the tight bun.

I left the bathroom, blinking in shock as I saw Yuzu was gone. 'Where'd she go?'

'She's the chef here, so she went to make dinner', Inoue looked up at the clock, eyes widening. 'Which is in a few minutes!'

She bolted out of the room, me trailing slowly and nervously behind her. She was mumbling something about ice cream and red bean paste…

* * *

I looked around. Most of the small crew was already gathered around the long wooden table, talking and laughing and occasionally glancing over at a door in the middle of a wall.

They stopped talking when I arrived, staring at me with interest, disapproval and anger. I blushed and followed Inoue, where she sat near the edge of the table. I took my seat next to her, trying to ignore the scrutinizing staring from the crew.

'Dinner is served!' a voice sang. Everyone went quiet, picking up cutlery and straightening up, waiting patiently. Wow. I wasn't expecting that.

Yuzu came bustling out of the door, holding a huge pot that looked to big for her fragile body. Whatever was in there smelt delicious.

She set the pot down with a loud smack on the wooden table, sighing. One of the crew, a huge man with a purple scarf reached towards the lid eagerly.

Yuzu frowned and smacked his hand with a wooden spoon. 'Wait, Omaeda-san!'

He grumbled something and scowled, crossing his arms. _What kind of pirate ship was this?_

Yuzu's face turned angelic and she smiled, taking off the lid and releasing a strong, delicious scent in the air.

She picked up a pile of bowls and started ladling orange soup into it, handing it out to each person.

I looked down at mine and picked up the battered spoon accompanying it. Usually, when I ate I had several different spoons, knives and forks to pick up the most delicious of foods, placed in intricately designed bowls and plates.

This felt very different. I ate hesitantly, trying to be as neat as possible, giving up when I realized how hungry I was.

The person next to me glanced at me and smiled slightly. 'Hungry?'

I nodded, blushing slightly. He held out a hand to me. 'Ishida Uryuu'

I swallowed quickly, the hot soup burning my throat. 'Kuchiki Rukia'

Ishida smiled. 'I know' I blushed.

He eyed my feverish spooning curiously. 'You look nervous'

I nodded feverishly. 'Having my wedding ruined, my minister killed, and getting kidnapped and forced to stay on a pirate boat tends to do that to me'

The boy smiled slightly. 'We didn't kill him'

I blinked. 'What?'

'The minister and those guards, we didn't kill them' he explained.

I snorted, a habit I would have been punished for back at the palace. 'They were bleeding and collapsing' I shuddered at the memory.

Ishida smirked. 'We're _refined _pirates'

'What?' I paused in my shoveling of the soup.

'We try to avoid killing people, and we're very organized.'

'What about that minister Inoue killed?' I objected.

'Not killed, just stabbed'

'How do you know he didn't die?' my voice turned into a whisper as I though about my wedding.

'We're very skilled. We know the weak points of a body, and only attack to incapacitate'

'Oh', was all I could manage. Ishida laughed.

'Why is your crew so small?' I asked, looking around at the 11-strong crew. The captain was nowhere in sight.

'We're small, but like I said, we're very skilled and organized'

'This is everyone?' I asked surprised, looking around the laughing crew.

She nodded and pointed to the person Inoue was sitting next to, talking. He had bright red hair and tattoos where his eyebrows were. _Ok…_

'That's Renji' Renji acknowledged me and turned back to Inoue. Ishida went along the table. 'That's Hisagi, Chad, Omaeda, Keigo, Akira, Urahara and Kira, then there's myself, you, Yuzu and Inoue and the captain' my eyes narrowed at his name.

I looked down at my now empty bowl, listening intently as Ishida explained about their 'refined' lifestyle.

He explained whilst most of them have killed before, the two who killed most were Yuzu and Omaeda. I choked on my second serve of soup, eyes widening.

'Yuzu?' I spluttered. Ishida nodded gravely. 'Why?'

'When she was very young, drunk palace guards came and destroyed their home, killing his mother, father and other sister, Karin, and wounding Ichigo badly. When Yuzu turned 7, she was already very well trained, and killed the several guards who brought about the death of her family'

I looked at the sweet, laughing young girl with shock, then looked at Omaeda. Bits of food were flying out of his mouth and he spoke in his booming voice and laughed, tearing off bits of bread with his teeth.

I shuddered. I was willing to believe _he _killed several people. Yuzu looked like a dwarf next to him.

'How many has Kurosaki killed?' I asked dryly, expecting a large sum.

'None.' My eyes widened again.

'Seriously?' Ishida nodded.

'Him and I think Chad have never killed before'

Wow. That was unexpected…

'Why isn't the captain here?' I asked Ishida, trying to block out visions of a bloodthirsty Yuzu holding a knife.

'Sometimes he comes, but he usually eats in his room' Ishida said shrugging, pushing his empty plate aside.

'Where am I being taken?' I asked him quietly. His eager expression vanished, leaving him blank-faced.

'I'm not allowed to tell you', he mumbled, looking away. I narrowed my eyes.

'Is it because _he _told you not to?' Ishida nodded slightly.

'Can you at least tell me how long I'll be on this ship?'

'It's a 4 month journey' my eyes widened.

'4 months?' I screeched. The table went silent. My chair flew back as I leapt to my feet.

'Thank you for the meal' I muttered quickly to Yuzu, striding out the door, ignoring the stares I was getting.

* * *

_Breathe…breathe…breathe!_

I kept telling myself too, but it was hard. I was expecting to only be aboard for now more than a few days, but 4 months? Despite what Ishida told me about these _refined _pirates, I still felt uncomfortable.

I groaned as the ship went over another wave. Inoue put something in my soup earlier, promising it would taste delicious. Now I was sick, I felt clammy, and I was freezing cold.

That, combined with sea sickness, was making me feel worse. Maybe my parents were right. Ships and cruises _were _overrated. They say its peaceful time at sea, when in reality people probably end up collapsing and throwing up.

Damn refined pirates.

I wondered what Kurosaki's 'boss' wanted me. He could use me as blackmail for money, since there were probably lots of people who wanted me back.

Thinking about that made me think of home again. My mother and father, Hisako and Ayami…I hope they were alright.

And Kaien, my would be fiancé. What would he do now? Set sail after me? I hoped so.

I yelped as the ship went over a big wave, sending me sprawling on my back. I remained there, willing myself not to throw up.

I shivered in the cold night breeze, wishing I was back in my huge warm bed at home.

'Enjoying your first night?' an amused voice said from nearby.

I sat up with a jolt, immediately regretting the action. Bile rose up in my throat, and I staggered over to the edge of the ship, retching.

I resurfaced form the side of the ship, too tired to fully glare at Kurosaki, who was leaning against the rail, holding out a water flask.

I grabbed it, rinsing my mouth thoroughly and splashing my face. I passed the half-empty flask back to him, swaying where I stood.

'Woah', I murmured as I fell back. A pair of strong arms caught me before I fell, half supporting me.

'Are you alright?' the voice asked, both concerned and lazy. I mumbled something, shivering again. And closing my eyes to stop the dizziness.

'I'm cold'

'Are you kidding?' Kurosaki said. 'Your skin's boiling' he put a hand to my forehead, supporting the rest of me with one hand.

'You're burning up. I think you have a fever' Kurosaki said disapprovingly.

With a sickening swoop, I felt myself being lifted up and carried somewhere. I thought he was taking me back to my room, but I felt him go down some stairs and frowned. The girls' room didn't have a staircase.

I was suddenly engulfed by warmth, the sickening swaying of the ship abruptly disappearing. I opened my eyes blearily, gasping.

I was in a huge, blue-carpeted room. A large bed lay in the middle of the room, against a wall, two end tables with lamps on either side. On the wall opposite was a long, narrowed desk that took up half the wall, clattered with books, quills and other random items, as well as a metal globe. One whole wall was covered by shelves, most holding books, scrolls and other assorted items.

'W-why am I here?' I asked alarmed, looking up at Kurosaki. He rolled his eyes and set me to my feet. I was now able to stand with little swaying, the dizziness fading a bit. It was almost impossible to tell his room was on a pirate ship

'If you die cause of some sissy illness my boss is gonna kill me' he said in an irritated tone.

He walked over to his bed, tugging off his shirt. I stifled a squeal and looked away, blushing furiously. If this had happened whilst I was still at the palace, I would've gotten seriously punished for looking at a half-naked man.

I turned back after counting to 15 in my head. He was lying on the bed, arms behind his head, eyes closed.

'Unless you wanna go back to your room and throw up again, I suggest you get in', he said calmly, not opening his eyes.

I huffed angrily, hesitantly walking over to the bed and sitting at the very edge. I fluffed up the pillow, smoothing the sheets and sighing.

Kurosaki was watching my 10 minute inspection with amusement and irritation. When I was finally done, I lay on my side, arms tucked beneath my cheek. I put as much of the bed as possible between me and Kurosaki, and if I rolled over, I was going to fall off the bed.

'I don't have a disease you know' Kurosaki said in a quiet amused voice.

'Yeah, sure', I muttered, closing my eyes. I suddenly felt him lean over me, placing something heavy on my shoulders.

'W-what are you doing?' I asked alarmed as his face was mere inches above mine.

'Unless you wanna freeze, stop squirming so I can put the quilt over us' he snapped. I stopped squirming, closing my eyes and ignoring the burning in my cheeks.

He leaned back on his side, and the world suddenly turned dark as he turned off his lamp.

I was suddenly wide awake, very aware of his body near mine. How could I sleep comfortably like this?

'Kaien will come find me, you know' I stated quietly.

Kurosaki made a noise of both disgust and sarcasm. 'I doubt it'

'You don't know him!' I snapped.

'I know him better than you think' Kurosaki muttered.

'What do you me-?'

'Goodnight, princess'

* * *

**_aww just luv Ichii! he's mi fave anime character ever _**


	6. Sweet Escape

The first thing I realized when I woke up was that I was very comfortable. The second thing I realized was that I shouldn't be…

I opened an eye blearily, gasping when I saw a patch of skin right on front of me. I looked up with growing dread. Finely toned chest, neck, relaxed jaw line, tuft of bright orange hair, closed brown eyes.

Kurosaki had his arms wrapped around me, my hands curled loosely against his bare chest.

3…2…1…

'_GET OFF ME!' _I screeched, pushing against Kurosaki's chest. He jerked, eye lids shooting open, revealing glazed chocolate eyes. He looked at my futile efforts to release myself bluntly.

'What are you doing?' he asked lazily.

'What do you mean what am I doing?!' I yelled, blushing furiously. 'Let me go'

He did as I asked, and yelped as I rolled off the bed, onto the cold wooden floor. I stumbled to my feet, face burning, glaring furiously at him.

He remained where he was, looking quite relaxed. 'What's your problem?'

I stared at him, mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. He took advantage of me while I slept and he was asking me what _my _problem was?

He yawned widely, rolling onto his back and closing his eyes again. I narrowed my eyes at him.

'Aren't you going to apologize for attacking me while I slept?' I asked him icily.

He opened a liquid brown eye to stare at me. 'You didn't enjoy it?'

Yes. 'No!' I yelled angrily, waving my arms. 'Keep in mind who I am!' Kurosaki rolled his eyes, enraging me further.

'I tend to cuddle whatever's next to me when I sleep' he said, closing his eyes once more. I crossed my arms, huffing angrily. More bad habits I would have gotten punished for back at the palace.

'Why didn't you tell me that yesterday?'

'You didn't ask' he replied simply.

Before I could reply, a shout broke the silence.

'Breakfast!' a voice yelled, followed by the sound of a slamming door.

After a few seconds, faint groans and thumps could be heard from the two sleeping quarters above Kurosaki's room.

Kurosaki himself groaned rolling onto his stomach and shoving a pillow over half his head, mumbling incoherently.

I gave up asking myself what kind of pirates these people were.

'Oi, Ichigo, it's breakfast!' a voice shouted from nearby. 'Get up for once!'

The door opened, revealing a messy-haired Inoue, who froze at the sight of me, eyes flickering from me to the messy bed and shirtless Ichigo.

With narrowed eyes, she picked up one of the heavy looking ornaments on Kurosaki's shelf by the door and flung it at him, hitting him square on the back of the head.

He yelped and clutched his head, rolling back onto his back and immediately glaring at Inoue's retreating back.

'She gets hissy when I don't get to breakfast', Kurosaki mumbled, finally sitting up and ruffling his already spiky hair.

I don't think she was upset about breakfast…

Kurosaki tugged on a shirt, leading the way out the door. I followed his lead, still fuming and embarrassed.

The crew was already there by the time we arrived. Some turned to stare at me, and I remembered my small hissy fit yesterday, blushing.

Yuzu was serving breakfast, humming merrily as she moved around the long table. Kurosaki sat down at the head of the table, gesturing for me to join him. I shot a quick glare at him before stalking down the table to sit with Inoue and Ishida, his low chuckle just audible.

* * *

I sat in my new room, wondering what to do. The others were out doing who knows what, and I didn't feel compelled to join them, so I decided to stay in the room. I was starting to get used to the ship's endless swaying, which had eased up some since last night.

I swayed on the hammock, reading one of Inoue'sbooks and wondering about Kaien and what he was doing now.

I took a deep breath, expecting to be cut off by the tightness of a corset. I smiled when I realized I didn't have to wear them for now, instead letting me use a tight singlet, since Inoue's "bras" were to big for me. It was one of Yuzu's singlets, which was slightly bigger on her.

I was wearing the same outfit I was given yesterday, the slim pants and blouse, which were surprisingly comfortable. It was a nice change from tight dresses and dumb corsets.

I jumped as the door opened, revealing a laughing Inoue and Yuzu. Inoue staggered over to her bed, sighing contentedly as she collapsed on it.

Yuzu tutted as she eyed the mess on the floor on the two beds that weren't hers. 'Inoue, clean up some of your stuff, ne?'

Inoue sighed again and got up, picking stuff up off the floor and dumping it either on her bed or Yuzu's, who watched the lazy clean up display disapprovingly, taking over and getting the room clean before Inoue got back to her bed.

Yuzu turned to me. 'We're making a stop at Rukongai on our way. We need supplies'

Rukongai was in the middle of the large cross made by the four kingdoms. There were other small countries between them, but Kuchiki, Hitsugaya, Ukitake and Shiba were the largest by far. Only a few of those countries were owned by any of the four kingdoms.

Rukongai was the biggest out of all those small countries and the most popular, since it was in right in the middle of the Sereitei Sea, where ships always passed.

'We can get you some clothes while we're there', Yuzu continued, folding one of her small shirts.

I looked up from my (Inoue's) book to stare at Yuzu. 'When you say "get" do you mean by paying honestly or…stealing?'

Yuzu grinned and left the room.

* * *

I watched as Inoue slid several light blue daggers onto her partially hidden black belt, tucking another dagger in her boot. She slid a pink-hilted katana into a sheath on her hip.

Thankfully, Yuzu was staying here. It was too much to imagine her small frame up against a bunch of thugs with swords.

'Are you going to fight?' I asked Inoue. She shrugged.

'No, but it's a precaution we usually take when we stop for supplies' I nodded absent-mindedly.

This was my chance to escape. I was going to quietly slide out with them and bolt at the first opportunity, where I would find the nearest person and explain my urgency to get in contact with the Kuchiki palace. If necessary, would how them who I was.

At the moment, it was impossible to recognize me. I tucked my straight under one of Inoue's orange hats, all my makeup and jewelry removed long ago. I was still dressed in Rukia's clothes, hopefully getting new ones soon.

If I'm still here…

Yuzu Inoue strode out the door, joining the rest of the assembled crew. Kurosaki was there; dressed in his tattered black cloak, hand on a black and red hilted sword.

I quickly followed after them, not worrying about Kurosaki seeing me since I was about the same height as Yuzu, our bodies hard to see compared to the tall people sanding next to us.

Kurosaki scanned his 10-strong crew, Yuzu leaning against a wall yawning. With a smirk, he beckoned for his crew to follow him as they descended down the platform connecting their ship to the dock.

I felt a leap of triumph and hope as I took my first step onto the connecting platform, only to be roughly pulled aside by a strong hand. I looked up angrily, anger changing to dread as I saw Kurosaki staring down at me with a frown.

'Where do you think you're going?' he asked.

'Off the ship' I answered, shrugging off his hand. Kurosaki stared at me disbelievingly.

'You think I'm just gonna let you go wondering off my ship?' he asked incredulously.

'I don't see why not'

Kurosaki snorted. He turned his head over to Yuzu. 'Yuzu!', she looked towards him. 'Keep her on the ship!'

Yuzu sighed and frowned at me, walking over and tugging on my hand and pulling me back onto the ship. She was surprisingly strong.

I shot a glare back at Kurosaki before Yuzu closed the girls' door. He did a small wave and walked down the platform, orange head disappearing from view.

I flopped down on my hammock angrily, yelping as it slipped for under me. I hit the floor with a grunt, eye twitching. _Every time..._

Yuzu smiled at me sympathetically. 'Ne, let's play something?'

* * *

'Ok, I need to go to the bathroom' I said to Yuzu. She smiled and leaned back on her hands, humming and neatening the old board game on the floor.

I closed the door behind me, heaving out a sigh. We'd spent the past hour playing games and talking. Whilst it was fun chatting to her, I really needed to use the bathroom.

I washed my hands at the small sink, looking at my reflection in the big mirror. I looked so…_different_ compared to my doll-like self when I was at the palace.

I felt a cool breeze and glanced over at the glass window, doing a double take. _Window._

* * *

**Hmm...no way i'd climb out a huge ship's window DX**


	7. Not so welcoming Party

**_Holy shitbees!_**

**_before i redid this story, i got 150 hits in two weeks. I redid it and put it up, and now in only a few hours i got over 500 hits, 13 reviews and a few faves and alerts XD_**

**_thank u all so much! This is mi first IchiXRukia fic so im glad u all like it!_**

* * *

It was open; the thin sheet of glass was slid to the side. I poked my head through it, looking around to see if anyone was there. Not many people at the moment. It was now late afternoon, the sun beginning to set.

Hopefully Kurosaki and his refined pirates were far away from here…

I took a deep breath as I saw the distance from the window to the hard wood dock below. A fall would be quite painful. I looked at a nearby rope attached to the ship, extending to the dock. I tried reaching towards it. Too far from here.

I eyed the few inches of railing along the side of the ship, sighing. This was a stupid idea, but I needed to escape.

I turned around, sitting on the window sill, and leaned out slowly, reaching towards the nearby rope, my other hand firmly clutching the side of the window.

I shifted my hand slightly, gasping when it slid from its place, sending me toppling backwards.

Arms flailing, I instinctively grabbed onto the rope that was now in reach. I grabbed it just in time, my legs half in the window, the rest of my body hanging out.

I held on tightly with both hands, panting. I looked down at the far ground, wondering what to do next.

With another deep breath, I placed my foot against the window sill, swinging my other one over the rope. As soon as I did this, my other foot slipped, leaving me clinging on the rope for dear life like a very uncoordinated monkey.

I must have looked as ridiculous as I do suicidal.

I continued swinging so I ended up on top of the rope, ignoring the sharp discomfort it brought on my legs and chest. I slowly edged down; panic ebbing away as I finally reached the platform, standing on shaky legs.

I looked up at the ship looming before me, letting out a proud sigh. Not bad, for someone whose never seen anything outside palace walls.

I turned around and started running, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

* * *

**Kurosaki Ichigo POV**

'Oi, Ichigo!' Renji's voice called form nearby. I stared over at him blankly.

'What?' I muttered, ignoring the fearful staring from the crowd around the shops.

'When's Omaeda and Hisagi gonna be back with the food?' Renji asked impatiently. 'It's been ages now!'

My crew and I were in the over-crowded markets and shops near the docks, people hurrying to their destinations to avoid confrontation from the pirates. Apparently we stand out. Why would that be?

I looked over at Renji. He had a red scarf wrapped around his head, worn leather boots and was fingering his large strangely-shaped katana.

No wonder people stared at us.

'Hey, look who it is', a sneering voice said nearby.

_What now?_

I looked up and blinked as I saw a massive man staring down at me, cracking his knuckles.

He looked around and saw that the rest of his crew had moved in closer to him, reaching towards their katanas, but were suddenly stopped as more thugs moved in on them.

'What do you want?' I asked wearily. The man narrowed his eyes.

'We dun like _pirates _over here', he snarled. 'So clear out!'

I was sorely tempted to knock him unconscious, but decided against it. 'We'll be leaving soon, so yo-'

With a roar the giant in front of him brought his fists down on me. I dodged out narrowly, surprised, and quickly unsheathed _Zangetsu_, hitting the thug on the back of the head with the hilt.

He staggered forward, but didn't collapse, is I'd expected. He must have a _very _hard head.

The man blinked dumbly at me then charged forward again. The rest of his thugs took this as a signal and started to attack the others.

* * *

**Rukia POV**

I panted as I ran along the narrow streets, looking for a sign of life. Where was everyone?

I was still quite near the dock, near the markets and shops, and I was starting to feel guilty for leaving Yuzu like that.

But I needed to get home. I needed to get away from these strange pirates…

I turned yet another corner, yelping as I skid on something slippery. Arms flailing, I grabbed onto a broom next to a small tavern and fell on my back, pots and other cleaning equipment clattering around me.

I remained where I was, frozen with shock, and finally propped myself up on my elbows, gasping as looked up into beady black eyes.

I scrambled to my feet, staggering against a wall. The man's laughter was echoed by three other men behind him.

'Well, well, well', he said grinning. 'What is a pretty lady such as yourself doing out in the dark streets?'

I gulped, but took a chance. 'D-Do you know where I can find a Bird Keep to send a message?' (**A/N I have no idea what form of messaging they used in those days…I doubt they has msn)**

The men laughed, the leader smiling strangely. 'Maybe we'll have some fun with you before you go'

I bit my lip, not understanding what they were talking about but knowing that it wasn't good.

'Alright then', I said nervously. 'I guess I will be going now'

I tried to walk past them, but suddenly one of the men grabbed my upper arm, squeezing tightly.

I gasped and tried to tug my painful arm out, with no avail. 'L-Let me go!'

The first man smirked. 'After we're done with you'

My eyes widened and I hesitated, before kicking my captor in the fork of his legs. With a high-pitched yell, he released my arm. I bolted back down the slim street, skidding around a corner.

Maybe I should go back to the ship…

* * *

**Kurosaki POV**

I grunted as one of the thugs brought down a large axe-like sword on mine, sending a jolt up my arm.

I saw a flash of orange as Inoue flipped onto her hands, kicking an attacking thug in the chest with both feet and sending him sprawling back.

She landed light back on her feet, pulling out two blue daggers, glinting wickedly in the setting sun.

I quickly looked around, glad that the 15 thugs were easily being taken of by my crew. If we wanted, all these men could be down on the floor groaning in a minute, but I didn't want to scare the town's people even more.

'We're baaaaack!' a voice boomed merrily. Everyone paused in the fighting to look at the new arrivals.

Omaeda and Hisagi showed up, each carrying either heavy cloth bags or barrels. They froze as they realized all eyes were on them.

'Who died?' Hisagi asked, laughing nervously & shifting his hold on the cloth bags.

'That's from my shop!' a voice yelled out from the crowd furiously.

'And mine!' another shrill voice said.

'Damn', Omaeda muttered. 'We were supposed to get out of here without any trouble' he looked to me, and I glared back at him through the cross made with my sword and two others.

'What'd ya do now?' Omaeda grumbled. My eyes narrowed.

'We didn't do anything!' Inoue piped up. 'These morons decided to attack us!'

With a roar, the fighting began again. There where to loud smacking sounds, and a second later, three men flew over my head, falling into a fruit stall.

I looked over and saw Chad wiping his hands, face expressionless as always. I smirked slightly and knocked the two swords off mine, kicking a man in the face.

There was a muffled scream and I glanced over at an alley nearby, doing a double take as I saw a familiar black head appear then disappear from my line of sight, a hairy hand clamped on the mouth, followed by a flailing arm.

* * *

**_sorry if its a bit short, but im tired, full of pizza, and i need to figure out wat im takin 2 Noosa XD (Sumwher in Australia...lol i live here yet i duno where it isXD)_**

**_don't stop reviewing! Once again thanks a lot!_**


	8. Catastrophic luck

**_OoOoOoHaPpY NeW YeArS EvErYbOdY!oOoOoO_**

**_ehehe, im updatig now cuz i had a sudden idea 4 chap 8 XD I nowhav2 go celebrate new years properly. We're drivin down to th Sydney Harbour bridge to watch the firworksXD_**

**_here's chap 8!_**

* * *

Spots appeared in my vision as I was slammed against a wall, head smacking painfully on the cold stone.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back tears, gasp stifled by the wide hand clamped over my mouth. There was excited laughter just audible over the sound of my loud heartbeat.

'Ya shouldn't have run', the first man growled. 'Ya just made it harder for yourself!'

_How did I end up like this in the first place? One minute I was comfortable and warm in my palace room, now I'm getting attacked by a bunch of drunks with no-one to save me!_

There was a yelp, followed by a muffled thump. More scuffling sounds followed, then I suddenly collapsed, the pressure pinning me to the wall gone.

Just before I fell, I was caught by a pair of warm, strong arms. I winced and immediately started struggling, squirming against the person's tight grip.

'Be quiet and stop moving!' a familiar voice hissed. I opened my eyes, staring straight into a pair of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate ones.

Kurosaki Ichigo's brown eyes were narrowed furiously. He started running, throwing me over his shoulder and ignoring my embarrassed yelp.

'L-Let me go!' I demanded weakly. Kurosaki shot a glare at me. He wasn't happy.

'What you did was stupid!' he snapped. 'What if I hadn't been there to save you, eh? What do you think those bastards would've done to you?'

My eyes widened, and I remained silent, biting my lip. I wasn't going to cry in front of Kurosaki.

'You should've stayed on the damn ship', he muttered furiously. I didn't reply.

There was the loud clash of metal on metal, and I peered over my shoulder, eyes widening again

All of Kurosaki's crew were engaged in battle, each fighting more than two people each. The enemies were a mix of thugs and normal citizens brandishing butcher knives or pitchforks.

I saw a flash of white, and suddenly Kurosaki slid to a stop as Ishida Uryuu skidded in front of him, placing another arrow swiftly into his white bow.

'We need to get back on the ship', Kurosaki muttered to him quickly, kicking an approaching thug in the chest. The man flew back with a grunt, landing on two other men, who landed on the hulking brown figure of Chad.

He looked down at the men piled at his feet expressionlessly, bending down and picking two of them up, flinging them in opposite directions.

I blinked out of my temporary daze, remembering my original plan. 'Let me go!' I shouted, pounding on Kurosaki's back. He took no notice, only hissing angrily and making his way through the mass of bodies.

With a huge squirm, I toppled over his shoulder, landing with a sharp gasp on my back. By the time he turned around, I was already darting through the crowd.

I grunted as I bounced off something large, staggering against a wall. A tall man turned to glare at me, brandishing a broom. I yelped and dodged, the broom knocking a bunch of swords of their display.

They clattered on the floor, and I quickly picked one up, wondering how on earth to use it.

The man grinned and swung the broom at me again. I shrieked and swung blindly, a painful jolt moving up my arm as the broom easily knocked it out of the way.

The man stood their grinning at my feeble attempt to hold a sword. I hesitated, then tried punching him, gasping in pain as my fist bounced back at me.

I yelped as he grabbed me roughly by my line shirt, tearing it and exposing part of my shoulder. His grin widened, then his face abruptly went blank.

Eyes rolling back to his head, he collapsed like a bag of sand, Kurosaki standing, scowling in his place. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off my furious yell as I launched a kick at him.

I hit a passing man, who was for some reason holding a basket of fish. I clipped him on the chin, and he staggered back, the basket of fish flying into the air.

'Beware, above!'

Everyone looked up, Inoue gasping as a fat fish plopped on her face. She clenched her fists as the slimy meat slowly slid down her throat.

Another man slipped on the fish. Arms flailing, he grabbed two people next to him, sending the three of them toppling. One of the men kicked someone in the head. The man flew forward, crashing into a bunch of people. The domino continued, as both pirates and civilians toppled one by one.

Ishida's arrow went wide of its mark as he went down, and struck a torch in a bracket on a shop. The torch tipped over, rolling into a box of fireworks. (**A/N, they did have a type of firework in those days XD) **

Everyone watched in horror, then screamed as there was a loud bang, and suddenly bright flashing lights were everywhere.

Omaeda bellowed as fireworks struck him in his backside, and he leapt forward, stumbling and knocking a casket of apples of their shelf.

The small fruits rolled into the crowd, immediately disappearing, but leaving a trail of bodies as they went by.

Kurosaki went down on one knee during all this time, and I staggered off his shoulder, preparing to run off into the crowd.

'Oh no you don't', he growled, hand enclosing around my wrist. With a huff of anger, he staggered to his feet, once again throwing me over his shoulder and running comically through the squirming people, making his way to the dock.

I saw people walking-no, _crawling-_over to Kurosaki, panting and trying to rid themselves of clutching limbs.

Before I could blink, we were back on the ship, Ishida slicing the mooring rope with an arrow.

After a moment, we started swiftly moving away from the screaming, brightly-coloured markets, all of us exhaling a weary sigh of relief.

Kurosaki finally put me down, staring over at the chaos I caused. He turned to me with disbelieving eyes.

'You're a disaster!' he shouted, voice slightly higher than normal. As if to confirm his point, a building suddenly blew up in the steadily distant Rukongai, a giant mushroom cloud rising up in the sky.

I guess my mother didn't call me 'bad luck-ridden spawn of the devil' for nothing.

Inoue squinted. 'Is it me, or does that cloud look like a weird-faced rabbit?' There were a few confused murmurs in agreement. Kurosaki's eye was twitching.

I glared at Kurosaki, cheeks burning. 'All I did was knock over some fish!'

'And you caused a damn chain reaction!' Kurosaki yelled. This has been the worst stop off we've ever had! You're a walking disaster!'

I'd been lectured multiple times at home for my flashes of temper. I didn't try controlling it, and I wouldn't now. Catastrophe I might be, but I wasn't taking any rubbish from anyone. Even Kurosaki Ichigo.

'It's not like I wanted to be on here in the first place!' I screamed at him, taking a furious step forward. A few of the crew snickered, enraging me further. 'Why else would I run away?'

'Wow, this princess has teeth' a voice muttered. More laughter. I shot a quick glare at the crowd before turning back to Kurosaki, who glared back. We glared at each other for a full minute, neither of us backing down. He finally spoke; glare softening into a disgusted scowl.

'Where did you learn to fight anyway?' he muttered. I narrowed my eyes.

'If I ever had a chance, I'd probably fight better than you' I snapped, stubbornness and defiance taking over my mind. The crowd held its breath. No one had ever questioned their captain's strength before.

Kurosaki raised an eyebrow. 'You think you could fight better than me?' his voice was sarcastic.

I was still too angry and frustrated my plan had failed to think straight. 'You disagree?' Kurosaki smirked.

'Even if you tried your best, you could never defeat me in a fight' my eyes narrowed.

'Teach me'

'What?'

'Teach me how to fight, and once I'm adequately trained, we fight'

'That's ridiculous'

'No it isn't.'

'I'm not agreeing to something foolish as that.'

'Are you afraid of being beaten by me?'

'Are you kidding?'

'Then teach me!'

Kurosaki smirked, fury replaced by amusement and disbelief. 'Alright then. Tomorrow we start'

I stared at him defiantly, smirking. He yawned suddenly, stretching. A black-hilted katana was thrown into relief, sheathed at his waist. The sheath itself was a glossy black, the katana very long. The hilt was shaped in a strange star pattern. It was quite beautiful.

Kurosaki turned around, walking over to the stairs leading to his room. 'In the meantime, you're staying on the ship. You better apologize to Yuzu'

My eyes widened as I realized what I had just agreed to.

_Damn you, Kurosaki Ichigo!_

* * *

**ehehehe i like this chap XD**

**once again, happy new years! I cant believe this year is gone alredy! It's gone so fast DX but now im a senior in highs chool so yeeee!!!**

**btw, im having a sudden blank and cant remember anything about pirate clothing. All i know are breeches and eye patches lol. If u know the proper names for pirate clothes, plz tell me in a review or sumthin! Thanks loads!**

**till next time!, -lazy llama-!**


	9. Origin of Chappy the Rabbit

**_yoooooo! it feels like ages since i've updated XD this chap is a bit short sorry, but i'v updated all three stories 2dai, so i am quite tired._**

**_its taken me ages to load this cuz i used up mi net (agen DX) so im just about ready to punch the computer. But for those of u lcky enough to have net, i have a youtube suggestion: look up Hueco Mundo Cup (if you're up to it) and ts the FUNNIEST parody of bleach ever! XD_**

**_or u can look up soul society stories, which is also quite hilariousXD its bi DubmasterDub_**

**_anywayz, Chapter 9, Moon's fang (i took xXHavocXx's advice and put some Chappy the rabbit in here...lol XD_**

* * *

I nervously kept my eyes glued to the paper I was writing on; not wanting to meet Yuzu's disappointed and hurt eyes.

The adrenaline rush yesterday had prevented any feelings like guilt or hesitation from being felt. Now it was taking its toll on me. Yuzu's sad puppy eyes were making me insane.

I drew yet another Chappy the Rabbit figure on my paper, surrounding it with little love hearts. I had recently discovered this little rabbit figure, finding it in all my mushroom clouds of destruction.

For years, I wondered why after any particularly large amount of chaos I caused had some sort of bunny included, whether it be in the form of an ash cloud, _accidentally_ spilt makeup, fancy dresses floating into the air outside my window, or even breaking my father's expensive hair decorations, Chappy was always there, in one form or another.

Now that's amazing. I have my own cute destruction signal! People will cower in fear when they see Chappy hovering somewhere, a signal that my catastrophic presence is somewhere nearby.

But even Chappy couldn't help me now.

I sighed, pressing my head against the wall. Kurosaki would be expected me in a few hours time to improve, no, _gain _some non-existent fighting skills.

What have I gotten myself into? Stupid Kurosaki Ichigo. He probably set that trap for me. Yes…get me angry so I can agree to something stupid and humiliate myself in front of his refined pirates.

Well, if he expects me to give up and go have a cry after 20 seconds of holding a sword, he'll be in for a surprise.

The spawn of the devil will not give up and cry. The spawn of the devil will shove the sword right up his-

'Dammit!' Inoue yelled as she burst through the door. Yuzu and I jumped, Yuzu breaking her endless sad glare to stare at Inoue.

'What's wrong?' Yuzu asked.

Inoue narrowed her eyes at me. 'The special food I asked for in Rukongai was left behind because they couldn't carry my stuff and _hers_', she pointed at me. 'So they left mine behind'

True enough, they ended up giving me a whole bunch of clothes, not bothering to check if they were the right size. I picked the smallest I could find in the heap, and ended up with a breezy linen shirt and dark blue breeches.

Pirate clothes were so comfortable.

I looked down guiltily at my new clothes, then back up at Inoue. 'S-Sorry, I didn't know...' my voice trailed off at Inoue's glare.

She collapsed on her hammock with a groan. 'Doesn't matter', she mumbled. 'I'll just have to stick with plain food for the next few weeks'

Yuzu narrowed her eyes. 'Excuse me?'

Inoue sat up with a jolt. 'N-not that your food's not delicious, but it's missing some special flavouring, such as sushi with vanilla or steak with melted chocolate drizzled on top or…' Inoue trailed off, eyes glazed over the thought of her strange food combinations.

Yuzu and I shuddered. I smiled slightly at her, and she seemed to smile back before fixing a pout on her small face.

I sighed, looking fondly at Chappy.

* * *

There was loud snickering as I walked over to the middle of the deck, where the man of the hour was busy sleeping against the rail of the large ship, arms propped behind his head, black cloak off for once, revealing a white linen shirt, unbuttoned halfway down his chest.

_Wow._ I cleared my throat and walked up to him, ignoring the snickering from the crew. Kurosaki looked up after a minute of me standing there, a small smirk alighting his otherwise blank face.

'I can see up your shirt.' he said smirking. I took a step back, crossing my arms protectively across my chest.

'Lecher', I spat, stifling a blush.

'You actually showed up?' he asked lazily. I narrowed my eyes.

'Of course. Did you really think I would miss a chance to prove myself to you and your damned crew?'

Kurosaki chuckled. 'If you say so' with that, he stood up, unsheathing his strange katana. He strode over to Omaeda and gestured for his katana.

Omaeda shrugged and handed him a huge spiked ball thing. I could feel my face pale as Kurosaki offered it to me. It was big almost as big as me.

'Something smaller if possible', I asked, glad my voice didn't break. Kurosaki rolled his eyes and gave Omaeda back his spiky ball-thing, walking over to Hisagi, the one with the…tattoo on his face.

What a strange tattoo. I wonder what it means…?

Hisagi grunted and unsheathed a long slim blade. Kurosaki nodded and tossed it to me. I gasped and let it drop to the floor, quivering point stuck in the wood.

Hisagi yelled indignantly while Kurosaki narrowed his eyes. 'You're supposed to _catch_ it, princess'

'You threw a sword at me!' I said indignantly.

'What do you expect to fight with?' he replied.

'You could've passed it to me!' I snapped. 'Throwing is just plain rude;

Kurosaki's eye twitched. He placed his hand over his eye with a sigh. 'Just pick up the damn sword'

So I was annoying him. Good. Maybe I could annoy him to death, and my cute little bunny can hover over his dead body.

I placed my hands gingerly around the quivering hilt and tugged. It wouldn't come out. With narrowed eyes, I tugged again. Still no budge.

Kurosaki watched my vain attempts for the new few minutes with amusement and exasperation. With a heavy sigh, he walked over to me and placed his hands over mine.

W-What are you doing?' I stammered angrily. Kurosaki snorted.

'You can't even pick up a sword' he replied with a head shake. He tugged slightly and the damn katana came out, sending me staggering back. Kurosaki's hands kept me steady.

'I loosened it for you', I muttered, averting my eyes from his amused face and the disbelieving stares of the crew.

He let go of my hands and stepped back from me, hand loosely curled around his katana, one hand ruffling his already spiky orange hair.

With a deep breath, I raised Hisagi's sword in front of me, struggling to keep it steady. Damn these things were heavy…

'Ready?' Kurosaki asked me lazily. I narrowed my eyes.

'Can you take this seriously?' I snapped at him. He smiled.

'You go first'

I hesitated, before running towards him, bringing the heavy katana down with a yell. There was a clang of metal and suddenly the sword was gone. Before I could blink, there was a whoosh of air, and the next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, Kurosaki looming over me with his black katana at my throat.

* * *

**_like i sed, sorry if its short :S but im tired and i want pocky dammit. take my advice and watch the parodies! _**

**_Till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-sama (i like that name XD)_**


	10. Fortune Faded

**_Yo,_**

**_sorry if this chapter's a bti shrot, but i just updated White Roses too, so mi creative flow is kinds stemmed lol_**

**_dammit its hard 2 think up chapter names DX sorry for the random chap name, but i couldnt thin of anything_**

**_It's "fortune faded" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, mi fave band EVER XD_**

* * *

I jumped as if I just got electrocuted. As soon as his sword touched my throat, I felt a weird tingling. It seemed to be… shimmering?

I struggled immediately, Kurosaki's smirk widening. One hand was holding his katana at my throat, the other next to my head, holding him up.

I blushed slightly at the awkward position and felt around for my fallen katana. I couldn't feel it anywhere nearby.

I staggered to my feet furiously, ignoring the crowd's laughter. I walked over to the fallen sword, bracing once again into a fighting position.

'Never charge towards your opponent recklessly' Kurosaki said, pulling his katana in front of him.

'Ladies' first', he said, gesturing.

'Go ahead then' I retorted. He grinned.

I don't know how, but suddenly he was in front of me. I quickly pulled up the heavy katana in front of my face, his black one clashing against it a second later, sending another painful jolt up my arm.

I saw a flash of white and looked away. Kurosaki snorted and flipped my sword effortlessly out of my hand, tip of his at my throat once more.

'When fighting your opponent, never look away', he said sighing.

I narrowed my eyes and stepped back from his glinting katana, once again picking mine up.

Come on Chappy…do your catastrophic thing!

I yelled and charged towards him, katana at my side. He looked over at me lazily, lifting his in preparation to flick mine away again.

I spun around at the last second, swinging the katana through the air. He dodged and I nicked his arm. He landed a few metres away from me, staring at me disbelievingly.

Everything was eerily quiet, the only sound a soft _plink_ as a drop of blood hit the wooden floor.

Kurosaki and I looked from the drop to his arm, where sure enough, a small, thin cut was through his linen shirt.

His smirk returned. 'Congratulations, you actually managed to cut me'

I stared at the sword in my hands in disbelief. The first blood I've ever drawn was from an orange-haired pirate.

'Well, that's enough for a day' he announced breaking the silence. An amused voice broke the silence.

'Ne, Ichigo, dos it bother you that the first person to cut you in a long time was a midget princess?'

Oh no they _didn't_. Did someone just call me _midget?_

I looked around furiously to see who called me midget. Inoue was sitting on the boat rail, smiling.

Kurosaki shot a small glare at her. I glared at him. 'What do you mean it's over? We've just started!'

Kurosaki shrugged. 'Not all of us have unlimited time to sit around moping about being a failed bride and moaning about "Kaien-sama"

_Oh…_I am going to kill him. Chappy swam through my mind, throwing a sword at a laughing spiky-haired strawberry.

I gaped at Kurosaki's back. 'Why you stupid _fruitcake_!' I lifted my arm, intending to follow through Chappy's brilliant idea.

He stomped particularly hard on one floorboard, and suddenly a plank in front of me flew up, smacking the katana out of my hand.

Hisagi dove forward and caught it, shooting a small smirk at me before sheathing his katana.

The small crowd started dispersing, mumbling about the small fight and laughing at my attacks.

'Well, you have some nerve throwing a sword at the captain', Hisagi said grinning. I scowled.

'He's full of cheap tricks', I muttered darkly, glaring at the floorboards. Hisagi's grin widened.

I stared at his tattooed face curiously. 'Why do you have a 69 on your face?'

A passing Omaeda leaned over me and grinned. 'It's his favourite _position'_

'Position?' I asked confused, ignoring Hisagi's furious yelp. Omaeda's eyes widened.

'Oh Yeah', he said scratching his head. 'I guess a princess wouldn't know about _that_'

'Go away Omaeda', Hisagi snapped at him. He sighed, looking back at me. 'It's a tribute to my late master'

'Oh', I said lamely.

'Oi, Rukia!' Inoue's voice called from nearby. I looked around and saw her waving at me from the entrance to our rooms.

I smiled at Hisagi and walked over to her warily. So far as I knew, she didn't like me.

I entered the small room, surprised when I saw Yuzu and Inoue putting up another purple hammock.

Yuzu answered my puzzled look. 'Yoruichi is coming back soon'

'Yoruichi?' I asked confused.

'She left a few weeks ago on a special mission for Ichii-nii' Yuzu explained. 'We'll be stopping on another island soon to pick her up'

Inoue clapped her hands. 'She said she could bring me some of my missing ingredients!' Yuzu and I shuddered.

As Inoue walked past me, she smiled. 'Congratulations on cutting Kurosaki taichou', she grinned. 'He's probably sulking in his room now'

I smiled at the thought, then frowned. 'What's with his katana?'

'What do you mean?' both Inoue and Yuzu asked.

'It's…black and has a strange…feeling around it' I said uncomfortably.

'It's cursed', Inoue explained quietly. I frowned.

'Cursed?'

Yuzu nodded. 'He found the sword at an island we stopped at a few years ago. The natives there said no-one would touch it because it was cursed. Its previous users were befallen by horrible accidents the same day they touched the sword.'

'The leader of their tribe said Zangetsu's loyalty could be tested by dropping the sword over the arm. Ichigo did as they said, and the sword _missed_, even though it was right above his arm. Since then, he's never lost a battle'

I listened to them, awed. Was anything about Kurosaki normal?

Yuzu glanced at a large antique clock on the wall and gasped. 'I have to get lunch ready!'

I stopped her as she ran past me. She looked up at me questioningly. I hesitated, then smiled.

'I'm sorry for running away, and for making you worry. It's nothing against you' I blurted out quickly.

Yuzu froze, surprised then smiled, patting my cheek. 'You're forgiven'

I smiled gratefully at her as she rushed out the door. Never in my life did I think I would ever have to apologize to a 10-year old pirate girl for running away.

The ship suddenly lurched over a wave, my stomach doing a flip. Ugh…I still couldn't stand sleeping in here. I didn't want to go back to Kurosaki's room though.

I suddenly felt furious at his name. Stupid refined pirate. The fury quickly evaporated, only to be replaced by nausea as the ship went over another rough wave.

I sighed and sat on my hammock, gasping as it slid out from under me. I let out an 'oof!' as I fell yet again on my backside.

* * *

**_like i said, sorry if its kinda short ^^ its bout 1300 words tho..._**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	11. My Diary

**_yo_**

**_this isnt a very active chapter, but its kinda funny. It has a diary entry form Rukia._**

**_ok, im having lunch now. So enjoy the story dudes_**

**_Chapter 11, Moon's Fang _**

* * *

I was getting used to life now. Life on the pirate ship I mean. I was used to these strangely kind and eccentric non-pirate looking pirates. Honestly, these people re-define the pirate stereotype with their strange ways.

The fact that I was getting used to all of this insanity scared me. Seriously.

It meant I was getting used to these refined pirates who didn't kill, who spread bean paste on ice cream, who get smacked on the head with a fry pan if they don't behave, who have a strange man with a green-white striped hat who looks like he sells illegal substances.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to like these people. And I think they're finally warming up to me. Even Inoue, though I didn't know why she disliked me in the first place.

The only thing I hadn't gotten used to was that one fruitcake. The one person on this ship who confused and frustrated me way more than the other. The person with unnaturally bright orange spiky hair and who carried around a cursed sword which he tried to impale himself with.

Even stranger, I was struggling with my own mind to decide whether I wanted to be back at my palace or stay here. A few weeks ago, I would've never thought all of this was possible. These people were teaching me about the strangely tidy ship, _Moon's Fang, _they taught me of what was referred to in the palace as "commoner lifestyle".

I still didn't know how to use the hammock though. I hated the damn piece of fishing net. It must be possessed. Whenever I fall, I can almost hear it laughing, _taunting._ Still, I refuse to go back to Kurosaki's evil lair in case he wants to harass me again.

I've been trying not to think about him since I first arrived on this 4 month voyage, but he keeps randomly popping up in my mind. Usually whenever I think of fruit or Kaien. It still shocks me how much they resemble each other. The only outward differences seem to be hair and eye colour.

And inwardly, their personalities are _very _different. Kaien is kind, sweet, and everything I could ask for a husband and friend. Kurosaki is his opposite. I've had so many evil thoughts concerning him, Chappy and rope and much more.

Like I said though, they're just thoughts, unlikely to come true until I learn how to successfully do them.

Since the first training session, I've had 3 more, and haven't been able to cut him again. Each time, the sword got knocked out of my hand, each time, I ended up on the cold wood with his black katana at my neck.

I was getting better though. I could actually last more than…3 seconds now. Mainly because I run and dodge a lot, arms flailing, making me resemble a bird that's using one of Urahara's illegal substances.

Strangely enough, Kurosaki never seemed to cut me. He occasionally made a large tear in my clothes "accidently" but other than that, his cursed sword has never touched my skin. Other than when it was at my neck.

He annoyed me.

I jerked as Yuzu announced dinner. Inoue immediately shot up from her orange hammock and grabbed a bunch of…I don't know what wrapped in bags and bolted out the door, telling me to hurry up.

Dinner was quite the same as usual. Omaeda arguing with someone, Ishida turning green when he tried one of Inoue's special food combinations, her defending the food when Ishida collapsed on the ground, Yuzu stepping over his body and sitting next to Inoue, eating as if nothing happened. Renji struggling with his hair and looking shifty as he spoke with Urahara. Keigo and Akira trying to cheer up the permanently depressed Kira, Chad being…Chad, Hisagi and Renji comparing tattoos, and their captain sitting at the head of the long table, watching all of this with a bored expression, slowly eating his food and punching Keigo in the face when he tried to talk.

Just another day on the _Moon's Fang._ And I was getting used to this. I almost forgot I was being held against my will to be taken on a 4 month voyage to who knows where to have who knows what happen to me.

More surprising than my apparent immunity to this madness was that I am having…fun.

I jumped up and took my empty plate to the clean up table, making my way over to the door, grabbing a bunch of grapes on my way. I caught Kurosaki's amused gaze and shot a glare at him. He blinked.

'Why are you always glaring at me?' he asked. 'Is it that special time of the month for you?'

Ishida, newly revived, started choking once more. Hisagi, Renji and Omaeda laughed. I narrowed my eyes and flicked a grape at him, before walking out the door with my head high.

* * *

_Ok, this is an experiment._

_Inoue gave me a "diary", which is apparently a special empty book in which your write about your day and feelings. Sounds kind of stupid to me, but to please her, I'll give it a shot. Also, she's staring at me, waiting for me to write something._

_Alright, what to write…I'm glad I _can_ write. I was told by my teachers that many people didn't know how to write, and that I was lucky, and that I should pay attention in my classes instead of daydreaming._

_I'm not feeling anything particularly important at the moment, so I think I'll just write about the occupants of the Moon's Fang._

_Ishida Uryuu-Generally nice, Kind of strange though. I caught him once sewing. Not just any form of sewing, but knitting. Not just knitting, but knitting a pink and green scarf with flowers._

_Chad- Not much to say. He seems nice enough, though he never speaks. _

_Asano Keigo-Can be funny at times, but generally annoying. Despite how many times Kurosaki has punched him, the always tries to do something stupid, and fails. Badly._

_Omaeda-His first name is too complicated to remember. I don't wish to be mean, but he is very ugly. By ugly I mean hideous. He showed me a picture of his family, and I couldn't tell who the mother was and who the father was. His younger sister seemed pretty, though when I pointed it out, he snorted._

_Hisagi Shuuhei-Why does he have a 69 on his face? he seems just as tattoo-obsessed as Renji._

_Abarai Renji-seems nice, if a bit desperate to fit the pirate stereotype. He dresses very eccentrically, spends a long time on his hair, and I heard Inoue wonder aloud just how far down his tattoos go._

_Kira Izuru-That man makes me depressed. Whenever he enters the room, I immediately feel guilty and sad for no reason at all. His hair annoys me._

_Urahara Kisuke-Let's not go there. _

_Inoue Orihime-I thought she disliked me at first, but now she doesn't, so I'm happy. When I once asked Yuzu why she didn't like me, she turned shifty looking and walked off. Inoue's food combinations are to be avoided at all cost._

_Fujishima Akira- One of my best friends on this ship. He's so easy to be with, and I can tell he misses Ayami, his sister. I hate seeing him upset._

_Kurosaki Yuzu-probably my favourite person on this ship. She's very sweet, if a bit scary at times, and reminds me of my mother (before she turned evil). I find it almost impossible to believe that she murdered the most people on this ship. _

_Kurosaki Ichigo-Well, well, well. Where do I start? He's stubborn, rude, lecherous, annoying, frustrating, evil, lazy and reminds me of an orange-haired strawberry. Even his hair frustrates me. How on earth did he get that colour?How did he not kill anyone in his life before? I'm sure he's been tempted to kill me plenty of times, as much I want to kill him too._

_Well, there it is. Biography on each member of the Moon's Fang, by Kuchiki Rukia._

_Now I'm struggling with my own mind to decided whether I like it more here or back at the palace._

_The palace: Good and Bad_

_Good: No Kurosaki, no hammocks, a comfortable bed, Hisako and Ayami, no sea sickness, my old life back, Kaien._

_Bad: My mother, the lack of freedom, wearing uncomfortable corsets and dresses again, going back to etiquette lessons and boring duties._

_Moon's fang: Good and Bad_

_Good: A good change from being stuck inside palace walls, better clothes, Chappy the Rabbit, a few friends, fulfilling my childhood dream of being a pirate (almost)_

_Bad: Kurosaki, not knowing where I'm being taken, hammocks, Kurosaki, Inoue's weird food combinations, sea sickness, Kurosaki._

_Well, Inoue's looking away now, which probably means I've wrote enough._

_Till next time, _

_Rukia_

* * *

**well, there u hav it. Rukia's first few week' on the Moon's fang. Didja like it? :D**

**btw, next chapter's gona hav a food fight XD**


	12. All's Fair in Love and War

**_BAHAHAHAHAHA this has 2 b one of mi fave chaps _**

* * *

'Ne, Rukia, what are you doing?'

'If I'm going to be stuck here for another 3 months, I at least have a right to decorate my given space'

'But he's kinda of sca-'

'-Cute! Yes, I know!'

Inoue and Yuzu glanced at each other and sighed, watching my progress. I was perched precariously on a pile of boxes, drawing a life size Chappy the Rabbit on the wall behind my cursed hammock.

Yuzu and Inoue don't seem to like Chappy. They must have very bad taste indeed. The only other person on this refined ship who seems to like Chappy is Ishida Uryuu.

'Why don't you like our captain?' Inoue asked suddenly. My white-tipped paintbrush slipped, giving Chappy a moustache.

I angrily dabbed at the blemish. 'What gives you that idea?' I asked through gritted teeth. I could almost hear Inoue and Yuzu rolling their eyes.

'You glare at him every opportunity and the two of you yell at each other frequently.' Inoue pointed out.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yuzu nod in agreement. 'I've never seen anyone annoy Ichii-nii so much, not even Asano-kun'

I huffed sarcastically. I saw Yuzu smile. 'You know, when someone says they hate someone else a lot, it usually means they _like_ the other person'

_Snap!_

Yuzu and Inoue jumped. The paintbrush I just broke was about an inch thick. I whirled to face them.

'No offence, Yuzu, but I hate your brother' I hissed. 'He's lecherous and annoying and frustrating and-!'

'Really?' Yuzu said with a smile. 'Because he seems to like you'

Inoue and I stared at her disbelievingly. 'He likes me? He _hates_ me!'

Yuzu shook her head. 'I've known my brother for a very long time. I can tell when he really wants someone to just die and when he's having fun'

Was this really a 9-year old girl?

An expression I didn't understand crossed Inoue's face like a storm cloud, abruptly disappearing a second later.

Before I could speak, the door beside me flew open. I yelped and jumped, the boxes tipping over. I fell back through the air, gasping as I landed on something softer and warmer than the expected floor boards.

'You should stop trying to fly' an annoyingly familiar voice said with a snort. I opened my eyes, immediately staring into Kurosaki's amused brown ones.

After a moment of shock for both of us, I narrowed my eyes. 'You can let me go now'

Kurosaki smirked and shrugged. 'If you say so' and he dropped me. I got back up, staring at him furiously, then turned to my Chappy picture, mouth dropping open.

The paint I had carefully balanced on the boxes had flipped up in the air when I fell, turning my beautiful drawing into a splatter of pink and white paint, dripping slowly.

'What have you done to my ship?' Kurosaki's voice was slightly higher than normal. I turned to him with an eye twitch.

'You ruined my Chappy picture!' I yelled, waving my arms. He raised an eyebrow.

'That weird rabbit? How can you call that a-?'

'_Get ooooooooout!'_

Kurosaki easily ducked as I threw a paintbrush at him, eyeing me like I was insane. He turned to Yuzu.

'Your steak is burning'

Yuzu shrieked and bolted out of the room, Kurosaki slowly walking after her. Inoue jumped off her bed, shooting me another odd glare before following Kurosaki out the door.

Dinner time!

* * *

All throughout dinner Inoue kept shooting small glares at me. Why? Her sudden mood changes scare me.

At the moment, Inoue and Yuzu were arguing with Renji and Ishida over the two men's clothing, and of course, they were arguing back.

I didn't want to interrupt, so I kept my face down and kept the fork-to-mouth rhythm I had going.

Soon we were going to be stopping at another island called Kusajishi, where Yoruichi, the 13th crew member, would be rejoining her fellow refined pirates after several weeks spent on Kusajishi on some special mission for Kurosaki. Yoruichi was with another pirate called Hanatarou. When Yuzu read the letter aloud to the other 12 pirates, there was snickering and laughter. I guess this Hanatarou was pretty popular...

I didn't know whether I should make another escape attempt at Kusajishi, or just stay here and face my fate, whatever it was.

Though I knew I probably should, I didn't hate these pirates sitting next to me. I only hated the one man who ordered them to do what they did. These people were actually kind of nice, not the type who looked like they would crash weddings, beat up the groom, stab the minister and kidnap the bride.

I was kind of worried though. I was starting to enjoy my time here, which felt like a lungful of air after being trapped under water for a long time. I didn't know where I was going or what was going to happen to me. The others seemed reluctant t talk whenever I asked them, and strayed away from the conversation, changing the topic.

Whenever I ask Kurosaki, he just smirks his annoying smirk and says 'you'll see'. I don't actually think he knows much more than I do at this point. Yet, he becomes slightly more somber after I ask, teasing only half heartedly.

'…What do you think, Rukia?' Renji's voice broke my line of worried thoughts. I jerked and blinked, forcing a smile.

'Sorry?'

Renji rolled his eyes. 'Do ya think our captain hugs one of Ishida's stuffed animals while he sleeps?'

Ishida shot a glare at him, shifting his glasses. 'I do not make stuffed animals!' Renji snorted.

I frowned. In the one night I unfortunately spent with Kurosaki, I saw no sign of a stuffed animal. I know what he likes to cuddle…

I shook my head. Don't go there. 'He doesn't'

Renji lifted a tattooed eyebrow. 'How would you know?'

I shrugged nonchalantly, busying myself on making a smiley face in the gravy with my fork. 'Fruitcakes like him don't sleep with stuffed toys'

Renji grinned. 'Since when do you start defending our taichou?'

I blinked and shrugged, neatly placing salad in my mouth. Everyone was awed at first by my flawless eating habits, how I never spilt any food or talked with food in my mouth. Yuzu seemed to be the only other person who ate the least bit politely.

Renji's grin turned mischievous. 'Ya don't _like_ our captain do you?'

I choked on the salad and shot a glare at him from across the table. 'What are you talking about?' Where was this coming from?!

'You like him!'

'I don't!'

'You do!'

'I don't!'

'Yeeeees ya do!'

I slammed my fist down on the table angrily, accidentally sending a spoonful of gravy flying through air, landing with a _splat!_ On Renji's face.

Inoue and Hisagi burst out laughing at his dumbstruck expression. He narrowed his eyes and flicked a spoonful of peas at me. I ducked, and they splattered against Ishida and Omaeda, who were sitting next to me.

Ishida started fussing over the stains in his white shirt, while Omaeda turned to full on glare at Renji.

'Eh?', he boomed. 'You threw food at me!'

He grabbed a huge chunk of gravy soaked steak and flung it at Renji. It skimmed past him and hit Kira full on in the face. He fell back of his chair with a yelp.

'That's enough!' Yuzu said firmly, slowly sliding under the table. Renji growled, ignoring her warning, and flung more salad at Omaeda. Reflexively, he flung his plate up to deflect the blow, a loud squelch emitting as the food flew off the plate and onto his face.

Hisagi, Inoue and I were laughing. Ishida turned to us. 'Do you have any idea how long it will take me to get this off my shirt? This is linen!' with that, he threw his dessert, fruit pie, over at Inoue and Hisagi. Inoue gasped as fruit and pastry slid down her neck and shirt. Hisagi blinked syrup out of his eyes and grinned.

'You asked for it, Pencil-man' he grabbed what was left of Inoue's pie and his and threw them both at Ishida. The archer yelped and dove out of the way. The pies instead hit Keigo and Akira, who were next to him.

They jumped up in anger, and after seeing the food-soaked Omaeda, Renji, Inoueand Ishida, grinned. In an instant, they had a mountain of food on each hand, grinning evilly.

'FOOOOOOD FIIIIGHT!'

It all went downhill after that. I dodged as best I could; only throwing when I had to, but I still got splodges of everything on my clothes and hair. Yuzu's eye was twitching, but she remained sitting down, tapping her fingers impatiently on the wooden table and waiting for people to notice her death glare.

Everyone seemed to be aiming for me, probably trying to fulfill their life's goal by throwing potato at a princess, but luckily I was small, so I missed a lot of food that went my way. I looked towards the head of the table, where I saw Kurosaki sitting there and watching the chaos with the same bored expression he got every meal time. No-one had tagged him yet.

With a slow, evil smirk, I lifted a glowing, perfectly whole pie with strawberries on the top, forming a smirking rabbit.

Oh, this was too good an opportunity too miss.

I picked up the pie, which seemed to be giggling, and eyed my orange-haired target. The food flying through the air seemed to momentarily stop as I saw an opening.

Using all my strength, I flung the pie the whole length of the table, where it dodged intercepting missiles of food. I watched in slow motion as it spun towards Kurosaki. It was just about to hit him, when-

There was a clatter as his fork slipped from between his fingers. He bent down to pick it up, and the pie splattered against the wall behind his head.

I stared at him in disbelief. He heard the incredibly close splatter of pie and looked up, fork once again clutched in his long fingers.

He eyed a cream-covered strawberry resting on his linen-clad shoulder and raised his eyebrows, scanning the table. His chocolate gaze rested on me, and I guessed he must've seen my dumbstruck expression, and my hand hovering in front of me, my leg up in the air.

He smirked. I didn't like the look of that smirk. I didn't need to read his lips to know what he just said.

'You're _dead'_

'Oh!' I squeaked. I quickly looked for more missiles, but all my food had been taken by the people next to me.

I looked up panicky and saw that Kurosaki was gone.

_Oh…dammit!_

I whirled around, searching for the orange-haired strawberry with growing panic. How did he disappear so fast? Where on earth was he?!

I whirled back around, gasping as I bumped into something hard. I opened my eyes and saw Kurosaki's chest in front of me. I looked up and leapt back. Too late.

My vision disappeared a bowl fell over my head, white pudding squelching as it slipped over my hair, my face, my neck. My gasp turned into a choked gurgle as the pudding slipped into my mouth. Mmm. Vanilla.

'_ENOUGH!'_ A horrible voice screeched. The shrieks and laughter stopped immediately, the voice echoing through the dining room.

I gingerly lifted the large, now empty pudding bowl off my head, blinking cream out of my eyes.

Kurosaki was smirking, leaning down so his face was right in front of mine. 'You're right', he whispered. 'I prefer you to stuffed animals any day'

* * *

**_KYAAAAAAA!_**


	13. Awkward Situations

**_omg the new bleach movie trailer... IchiXRukiness! ^^_**

**_"bakayaro! Memories arent everything! You cant break the bonds we share!"_**

**_KYAAAAA!_**

* * *

'Oi, Ichigo! Are you alright?'

'Of course he's not alright, idiot, he's unconscious!'

'Yeah…well…shut up!'

'What happened anyways?'

Everyone turned to look at me. I looked behind me hopefully, but no-one was there to take the blame. I looked down and gasped at the broken pieces of ceramic I was clutching tightly.

Ok, so I smashed that Carrot-top over the head with the bowl. His fault! Anyone would've had the same reaction! If he wanted to stay conscious, he shouldn't have provoked me!

Kurosaki mumbled something from his position on his back on the floor and his head lolled to the side. Everyone apart from Yuzu and I were backing away. I was too scared to move.

Yuzu stood up once again, hands on her hips. The force of her glare sent us all staggering backwards.

'I-I'm sorry about your brother', I muttered with a nervous chuckle. Omaeda cleared his throat.

'Yeah, you can kill her if you want, just leave us alo...', Omaeda's voice trailed off as I glared at him. Everyone jumped as Yuzu huffed angrily.

'I don't care that you knocked out Ichii-nii', Yuzu scoffed. 'In fact, congratulations, Rukia-san' I stared at her bewildered.

'Aren't you angry?'

Yuzu snorted. 'Of course I'm angry!', she pointed to the messy refined pirates accusingly. 'No-one goes to bed until this is cleaned up.'

…_?!_

'_NOW!'_

There were yelps as the 11 pirates pulled mops and other cleaning equipment out of nowhere, getting to work on cleaning up the now colourful room. I swiped my face with my shirt to get cream out of my eye and shot a glare at Kurosaki's unconscious body, before moving off to help Inoue.

'Omaeda!' Yuzu shrieked. The huge man was making his way slowly but surely over to the door, Renji in front of him. Yuzu scowled and picked up a heavy-looking pan effortlessly, twisting it before throwing it gracefully through the air, where it struck Omaeda and Renji on the same shot.

'_No-one_ leaves until this is cleaned up', Yuzu repeated in a low voice.

She paused in front of a wall, where bits of fruit and pastry mixed with gravy were slowly sliding down. She hesitated, then swiped her finger along it, placing it in her mouth critically.

'…Of course, no-one understands or appreciates the difficulty of getting food out of-Inoue, what are you doing?!' Ishida asked alarmed.

Inoue let out an exclamation. 'This is delicious! I have found a new-!'

'_HURRY UP!'_

* * *

My back ached and my hands stung after repeatedly wringing a cloth into a large bucket with the words "Bleach" imprinted on it, flames coming out the side. No wonder. That stuff burns!

I yelped as I slipped on a piece of cake stuck to my boot. I struck the floor hard, not bothering to get up. I spent more time on the floor than on my feet. I don't think I'm cut out for this lifestyle. The closest I've come to any of this was sitting in my bathtub playing with a pink pirate ship.

'Rukia-san, you're ruining the floor!' Yuzu's voice scolded.

I rolled onto my stomach gingerly and staggered to my feet. I looked at Yuzu guiltily.

'What happened to your brother?'

Yuzu smiled. 'He's in bed, mumbling about rabbits and midgets. I think he's growing a third eye now…'

I grinned sheepishly. 'I'm sorry about that. I don't remember…' Yuzu's smile widened.

'What did he say to make you angry enough to do that?' I narrowed my eyes.

'A joke I don't find very funny' Yuzu's smile turned understanding. Where was she getting at?

I cleared my throat. 'Anyway, I'm going to go wash now, since I smell like fruit and gravy'

I turned to the bathroom, but Yuzu spoke quickly. 'Inoue's already in there. She usually takes a while…' I grimaced. I wasn't going to sleep smelling like someone's dinner.

This room only had one washroom. Then there were the mens' one, which was out of the question, then there was…

'I'll be right back, Yuzu'

Before she could speak, or worse, guess what I was about to do, I bolted out the door, grabbing a bunch of clothes on my way.

I quietly descended the steps to Kurosaki's room, glad I met no-one, already regretting my decision. I peeked in the door.

The relatively clean Fruitcake was lying on his bed, a few pieces of pudding in his bright orange hair. I took a deep breath and tiptoed through the room, eyes locked on the large bathroom on the other side of the room.

I gently closed the door and leant against it, blowing out a relieved sigh. I looked in the mirror and stifled a scream.

My hair was white and black and stiff. My originally blue clothes were covered in pastry, potato, gravy and vegetables.

If he woke up, he would regret it.

A while later, I stepped out of the bath feeling mellow despite the situation. I was clean, my hair looked like hair again, and I no longer smelt like food. I turned around, scanning the room for a towel, eyes running past the tub, sink, Kurosaki, and finally a shelf, where a large towel sat.

…

I did a double take, eyes widening as I stared into an equally shocked pair of brown ones. There was silence, then-

'EEEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAA!' I grabbed the towel and leapt back. At the same time, Kurosaki closed his eyes and sighed, leaning outside the door with crossed arms. He dodged the bottle I threw at him without looking.

'What is it with you?' Kurosaki asked, both amused and angry. 'I've never met someone so determined to have my life ended'

I ignored him and stood by the sink, the overlarge towel wrapped tightly around my small body. How much had he seen? This was beyond embarrassing. Not to mention the first time any male other than my father has ever seen me naked.

I whirled around furiously, blinking when I realized my clothes weren't where I left them.

Kurosaki made a whistling sound to get my attention and waved a bunch of green and black clothes in the air.

'I guess people tend to forget certain things when they're breaking into other people's rooms and hijacking their shower'

I scowled and grabbed the clothes off him before slamming the door closed, sighing deeply. Could life get any more complicated?

'It's not my fault', I grumbled to him. 'Inoue hijacked _our_ shower, and I couldn't sleep like covered in food'

'Whose fault is that?' he called back. I scowled.

'Renji's, for your information'

'What'd he do now?'

'He said-' I hesitated. There was no way I could explain this to that lecherous strawberry without him twisting my words to say that I finally confessed my love for him.

'-you like me?'

My mouth dropped open. Okay, how on earth had he heard that?!

'H-How…?'

Kurosaki laughed, a sound I never heard before. It was quite nice. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. This place was messing with my head.

'How do you know I don't sleep with Ishida's pink bear?'

I blushed, glad he couldn't see it. 'I didn't see one that one night you harassed me' Kurosaki chuckled.

'Since when do you defend me?' he asked.

I rolled my eyes and opened the door, doing another double take as Kurosaki was leaning against it, blocking my path and staring at me, both curious and amused.

'Are you going back to your room?' he asked. I nodded, not sure why my brain felt so fuzzy. He grinned.

'Sure you don't wanna spend another night here? You make a good stuffed toy' he tilted his head, eyes glinting.

Ok, confused fuzzy feeling gone. I was pretty sure I could sense another meaning behind his words. Well, since no-one was here to tell me off…

'I won't spend a night with anyone other than Kaien', I told him with a smirk. His smile vanished. I brushed past him.

As I slammed the door behind me, I heard his muffled swearing and felt pleased. We were at war, and I was winning.

* * *

**_lol sorry if it wasnt as exciting, but i just got bac from canberra, and mi sister is now with us, bac from uni ^^_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	14. Of Kenpachi, strawberry matters and more

_**Ohayoooooo!**_

**_today was mi first day back at school. They've put BLACK BARS around the school to stop kids wagging! THEY'VE GOT SPIKES ON TOP! FTW?! and the yr 7s have their own "Year 7 village" so we dont attack them. bastards._**

**_holy shitbees, 1000 hits 2 profile! O-o...the hell? XD also, i dunno if u've noticed, but i gotta_** **_boast about mi awesome dp XD_**

**_also, Yumichika an Ikkaku are no longer with Yoruichi. They're with Ken-chan. Hanatarou has replced em XD_**

**_ok, enough randomness, on with Moon's Fang! i apologize for the gay chap title, but as u may alredy no, i cant come up with a title to save my life._**

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Shihouin Yoruichi is now with us. Her and Yamada Hanatarou. They both seem nice, Hanatarou overly so. He seems to have taken a kind of obsession with me, always following me around, telling bad jokes, smiling dumbly. But I like him. He's nice._

_As for Yoruichi…well, she's furry, has yellow eyes and likes to walk along the rails of the ship and lie in the sun._

_Oh yes, I forgot to mention, __**She's a cat**_**.**

_What could a cat do on a "Special Mission"? Selling her little friends Urahara's illegal substances for cats in the moonlight? Eating someone's canary? Kurosaki must have been joking. What a poor joke. I think I hate him more for it. _

_Anyway, you can imagine my surprise when Hanatarou came aboard, holding a sleeping Yoruichi in his arms. Everyone seemed happy to see her. I was just confused. Inoue and Yuzu set up a __**hammock **__for her and were even cooking something special on the night she arrived._

_Then Yuzu explained to me about Yoruichi's "curse"._

_Yoruichi was the Moon's Fang "magic woman". Apparently, she could turn into a human, though she preferred being a cat, was over a hundred years old, and was very…interesting._

_I don't think I'll ever get used to this._

_We are now about two months away from wherever I'm going. I really wish they would tell me. It's not like I can go anywhere once I know anyway._

_Surprisingly, I'm not the one nervous about this fact. Kurosaki is. Most of the time, his mood is tuned between "Amused", "Angry", and "annoy the rabbit-loving midget". I am not short. He is just too tall. _

_I am confused though. When we fight, Kurosaki seems reluctant to point his katana at me, and send me sprawling flat on my back as usual. At random times he is overly sneering, others he is quiet and ignoring me._

_Scarier and stranger than that, is what I feel around him. Normally, it's hate, malice, frustration, anger and annoyance, but now I'm feeling something different…something like…the feeling I had the first time I saw Shiba Kaien._

_But that was impossible. There was now way I could like Kurosaki Ichigo. He's stubborn and lecherous and beyond irritating. _

_Is that what I believe?_

_Alright, my brain is very confused right now. I just heard Hanatarou yell, so I guess I should go rescue him again. By the way, he isn't popular, as I had thought. In fact, everyone laughs at him aboard this ship, apart from Yuzu, Inoue and I. And Kurosaki._

_Confused and frustrated,_

_Kuchiki Rukia._

_

* * *

_

The sun had finished its descent below the horizon hours ago, leaving an inky, starry sky in its place. The moon was full, glowing with an eerie, silver aura.

I loved the nighttime. It was probably my favourite part of day. Everything was so clear, and staring up at the sky seemed to make all my questions fade away into awe.

I felt something warm brush against my leg and looked down. Yoruichi the cat-woman had just jumped up on my hammock, curling up against my leg.

I smiled. Nanao and Byakuya, my parents, had never allowed me a pet in the palace. The closest thing I had were the goldfish in my secret meadow pond, which couldn't do much other than open and close their mouths stupidly.

'Are you really some sort of magic cat?' I murmured to Yoruichi. The black cat opened one bright yellow eye to stare at me lazily before lifting its shoulders slightly. My mouth dropped open. It, the cat, _shrugged._

'I was being sarcastic!' I whispered, staring at the cat curiously. 'You can really understand what I'm saying?'

Yoruichi once again opened her eye, this time staring at me with what I guessed was irritation at her nap being disrupted. She rolled her eyes and closed them again.

If I tried to understand this, my head would hurt. I heard a bang and jumped. Inoue was also in the room, and put sat up with a jolt, blinking blearily.

There was a yelp followed by the sound of metal sinking into flesh, and the silent unsheathing of swords. Inoue leapt to her feet and strode over to the door, opening it for a second before slamming it shut again, face pale.

'What is it?' I asked, heart frozen. Inoue ignored me and ran over to her hammock, yanking her weapons off the wall hook and quickly put them on, sliding her blue flower hilted daggers out of their sheaths and striding once again to the door.

She turned to me. 'Stay here' she said firmly, before pulling the door open and closed again as she ran out. I sat where I was blankly.

More thumps. More yells. The clashing of metal on metal. Inoue's yelling.

'We're being attacked! Wake up!'

That's it. I jumped off the hammock and ran over to the door, yanking it open. I gasped.

Inoue was single-handedly fighting three grinning figures with glinting katanas. More were creeping over the edge of the ship. Yuzu was lying on the floorboards, clutching a wound on her stomach.

I slammed the door shut again, pressing my back against it. There was more shouting as the other pirates woke up, and more sounds of clashing metal.

I eyed my hammock, where the sword Kurosaki lent me for fighting with him lay beneath.

Now came the time to test my skills. I didn't know if I knew enough to battle against others, but I couldn't just sit here while the others fought for their lives. And Yuzu…

I took a deep breath and ran over to the hammock, grabbing the sword and running back to the door, once again yanking it open and rushing into the battle.

* * *

**(Kurosaki POV)**

I swore as I deflected yet another blow from a cackling pirate that wasn't mine, kicking him in the chest and moving off to help Ishida. He was expertly shooting slender blue arrows into the crowd while deflecting other attacks with his bow.

I saw a small brown head on the ground and I froze for a second before bolting over, cutting down anyone in my way. I scooped Yuzu up easily with one arm, Zangetsu clutched tightly in my other.

I whirled furiously, trying to see the sorry person who did this to her, when my eyes fell upon a familiar black head.

She wouldn't….Yep. She would.

The midget was holding a katana which was nearly as long as her, still dressed in her bedclothes, looking around for the pirates she knew. I swore and fought my way through the tangle of bodies to reach her.

A large man rushed towards her and my eyes widened. Look behind you, baka!

At the last minute, she turned, and quickly dodged the man's attack. I stifled a sigh of relief. Though she wasn't a very good fighter, at least she was good at dodging.

I tightened my grip on Yuzu, who was mumbling something and grimacing, small hands curling into fists into my shirt.

The midget ran through the crowd, ignoring the flashes of steel around her and searching for someone. Me? I was confused at the flicker of hope and shook my head to get rid of it. The midget was messing with my head.

Her dark blue eyes locked on mine and she smiled in relief, the first time I saw her smile in my presence.

'You found her!' she shouted in relief. I jerked my hand towards her as an arrow whistled through the air, slicing her upper arm. She gasped and dropped the katana, clutching the wound in shock.

Probably the first time the princess has ever been cut. She swallowed and looked back to me, eyes fixed on Yuzu.

'Is she okay?' she asked, jerking her head towards Yuzu. Probably the first time in her pampered life she's been hurt, and she's worrying about my nine year old pirate sister instead of herself?

Well, what do we have here? A selfless princess. That sentence doesn't seem to work…

I narrowed my eyes at her. 'You idiot! What do you think you're doing here??'

Her relieved smile vanished as she frowned. 'I'm trying to help, you jerk!'

I slapped my hand to my forehead. 'You don't know what you're doing, dammit!' she winced at the loudness of my voice, but glared at me defiantly. I almost felt bad for yelling at her. _Almost._

'I want to help!' she replied indignantly. 'You're outnumbered!'

'And you think you can help?' I growled. Before she could speak I grabbed her arm and pulled her through the crowd, keeping her close as I fought off all the idiots who attacked me.

'Why is everyone attacking me?' I muttered, punching a man in the face. The midget snorted.

'I don't know if you've realized, but you kind of stand out in the dark' my eye twitched. So I have orange hair. Get over it. _Everyone!_

I turned to her angrily, tugging on her wrist. She staggered forward and bumped into my chest, eyes wide.

I stared into her dark eyes for a moment before pulling away, grumbling. I forgot what I was going to say.

I got yanked back by the midget as an arrow that wasn't Pencil-man's whizzed past me. I yelled out a warning but too late. Omaeda staggered backwards as the arrow pierced his stomach.

I heard the midget let out a choked yelp, clapping her hand over her mouth. What was she _doing_ here? A girl like her shouldn't be in the middle of battle, with spastic pirates screaming and waving swords around like there was no tomorrow. Which, lucky for them, there will be.

Omaeda stared down bluntly at the arrow protruding form his vast stomach and grunted, pulling it out. I stifled a sigh of both relief and disgust.

On the end of the arrow was a chicken carcass.

Omaeda whirled around, small eyes furious, looking for the (Not really) dead man who attacked his chicken. His sight settled on a gangly archer, who was staring at him dumbfounded on the other side of the ship.

He growled and shoved his way through the crowd, laying waste to anyone in his way. I didn't want to be around for his famous "Great Omaeda belly flop of gonna knock you out". I grabbed the midget and prepared to move, but was interrupted by a horribly familiar roar.

'IIIICHIGOOOOOO!'

I spun around, eyes widening. _Dammit!_

Zaraki Kenpachi had just climbed over the edge of the ship, maniacal grin in place, scarred eyes scanning the crowd for me. I ducked down, but too late. Maybe the midget was right. My hair really did stand out in the dark.

I spun around to face the midget. She was staring at Zaraki wide-eyed. 'Oi! Ok, get inside your damn room and keep it shu-!'

There was a boom and the midget shrieked as suddenly Zaraki was right in front of us. I barely managed to bring Zangetsu up to meet his blow.

I pushed Rukia through the crowd, hoping she found someone friendly. Zaraki turned to her, grunting in surprise.

'Everybody!' his roar made everyone go quiet. His grin widened impossibly. 'That midget-!'

'I'm not a-!'

'-over there is the Kuchiki princess! Get her, and we'll get a huge reward!'

* * *

**_ok, everyone in this story is gona b someone from bleach. Aizen is gona b Kaien's uncle, whose taken over the throne, and i bet u will all literally burst out laughing at the indentity of his wife XD_**

**_ok, gotta go do homework, ON MI FIRST DAY OF DAMN SCHOOL!_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**

* * *


	15. Fade to Black

**_i'm pretty happy the way this chap turned out XD_**

**_i hav put up a new story! Just visit my profile and look at my stories. _****_It's mainly humour, and according to the two people who beta'd it, it's relay funny so far. There'll be some implied romance..._**

**_Also! Thanks to Szahara Again for the 100th review for Moon's Fang! XD Thank u all for reviewing! I realy appreciate it!_**

* * *

(**Rukia POV)**

My eyes widened at the scarred pirates words. When they said "Get me", did that mean they would take me back to Kuchiki or try to sell me elsewhere? I didn't like the latter. But then again, it was a chance to get away from Kurosaki and his strange pirates.

So why wasn't I running to Zaraki with a triumphant laugh at Kurosaki's dumbstruck face?

Did I even want to go anymore?

My original plan was "get far away from these people, get to Kuchiki, sleep on comfortable bed for the next century, and marry Shiba Kaien". Now I'm not so sure…

I gasped as suddenly hands were grasping at me, grinning faces swimming. I shrieked and struggled immediately. Kurosaki moved to help me, growling furiously and swiftly disposing the attacking pirates.

He grabbed me back, clutching me firmly against his chest. I saw Yuzu's small brown head bobbing up and down on Inoue's shoulder as she scurried through the crowd. He moved quickly through the steadily thinning crowd, laying waste to anyone who came too close. Zaraki had stopped, scanning the crowd like a hawk after a mouse for his lost target.

I looked up at Kurosaki, surprised. The way he was holding me seemed almost…possessive. His usual frown was in place, face otherwise blank and at ease, eyes daring anyone to come forward.

I yelped as there was a squeal, and Kurosaki dropped me as something small and pink jumped on his head, obscuring his vision and making him flail about, swearing muffled. The thing giggled.

'Ken-chan's been looking for you, Ichii!' oh, it was a girl. She was small with pink hair and cheeks and a big, bright smile.

I suddenly got jerked back into the dwindling mass of pirates from both sides. This was where being sma-vertically challenged was bad. Everyone was tall and hairy and grinning and I was being shoved to and fro like a ball.

And then I was at the edge of the boat. I gasped and clutched at the railings as I lurched forward. I breathed out a sigh of relief and looked around for my fallen sword. There was the sound of creaking wood, followed by a horrible screech.

There was screaming, muffled thumps, a furious roar which ended in a grunt. I jerked out of the way as Zaraki flew past me, on the end of a wooden pole swinging through the air. There was a loud splash as he hit the water a far way down.

'What-?' my sentence was cut off as something hit me in the back of the head, sending a jolt down my spine and toppling me over the edge as my body went limp.

The last thing I heard as I fell was a familiar, desperate cry, followed by Yuzu and Inoue's high-pitched screams.

My brain jolted back to consciousness as I hit the freezing cold water. After a moment of shock, I started flailing, trying to get back up to the surface, my lungs already bursting with the need for air.

It was impossible. The sea was rough, and I was being buffeted endlessly by waves of freezing, salty water. I went limp, accepting my grim fate. My eyes closed for what would be the last time, and I felt a small twinge of humour as my life flashed in front of my eyes. I didn't think that actually happened…

I remembered scenes from my childhood, my first meeting with Ayumi and Hisako, the years afterwards I spent sneaking out to parties with them under a disguise. My mother, Nanao, and her kind laughter and personality before my brother died, my father, and the first time I ever saw him smile. Then came my new memories.

My first night here, laughing with Inoue and Yuzu, overcoming my shyness and reluctance at the surprisingly kind, if strange, refined pirates. The food fight, several other humourous moments in my three months here. The last images swimming through my steadily blackening mind were of the last person I expected.

The bright-haired carrot top, all the times he teased me, my retorting, the amount of times we shouted at each other, the fake fighting, which I had gotten better at, the first time I heard him laugh, the awkward time I hijacked his shower, his strange periods of reluctance near me, his smirking and chuckling, his warm, chocolate eyes.

The last image in my head, on the brink of total consciousness, was Kurosaki Ichigo. Well, that's _very_ unexpected, because according to Nanao, the last person you see before you die is the person you love the most.

I heard a loud splash nearby, and felt a flicker of irritation. Couldn't I die in peace?

I was vaguely aware of a hand tugging on my arm, wrapping around my waist. I felt myself get pulled up, up, and the bitter wind whipping my face as I resurfaced, my saviour spluttering next to me.

'Throw down the damn rope', a wonderfully familiar voice croaked. I felt something rough and sleek hit my arm. The person next to me grabbed it, clutching me tightly.

The next thing I knew I was lying on the hard, wet wood on Kurosaki's ship. I felt a pair of lips press roughly to mine, air inflating my lungs. I gasped and spluttered, coughing out water.

I heard cries and groans of relief, followed by a sigh from right next to me. The first thing I saw when I opened my bleary eyes was…Ichigo. Wow, that sounds strange. The first time I've ever called him by his first name.

His hair was dripping wet, covering his brown eyes slightly. His face was hard, and his eyes were relieved. His arms were around me, and I saw him drape his black cloak around me. His shirt was also soaking, clinging to his well formed muscles. Hmm. No time to think about that though.

'Where's…Zaraki?' I croaked. Inoue appeared in my line of vision. 'Where's Yuzu?'

'He left', Ichigo said with a wry smile. 'Thanks to Ishida's quick thinking' that was the first time I'd ever heard him say something nice about Ishida. 'And Yuzu is in the sick bay. She's fine.'

I nodded, suddenly exhausted. I guess getting smashed on the head with a thick wooden pole then falling from a large ship into savage, freezing water then almost drowning does that to you.

'We should get her checked out', I heard Akira announce. 'I think she's growing a third eye'

'Well, it was either that or let Zaraki and his idiots continue attacking us!' Inoue snapped guiltily.

I felt myself being lifted up, and I knew it was Kurosaki, but I didn't fight it. I didn't really want to. Besides, I'm tired.

'I can walk', I muttered, closing my eyes. Kurosaki chuckled.

'Yeah, I can see that', he said sarcastically. 'You're an idiot you know'

I frowned. Goodbye happy bubble. 'Why?'

'You know you can't fight yet you refused to hide and put yourself in danger, making me dive into freezing water to save you'

My eyes shot open, immediately narrowing. So much for being in my good books. Jerk.

'I was trying to help! How could I just hide, not knowing whether yo-anyone was hurt?' I hoped he didn't notice my blush. He snorted.

'Since when are you so selfless?' he muttered.

'What's that supposed to mean?' I asked him angrily.

'Well, _princesses_ are supposed to be…' he hesitated. 'Never mind. You're no normal princess'

'Damn right' I muttered.

He smirked. 'Princesses don't swear, argue, roll their eyes or do anything unattractive as much as you do. You ruin the stereotype', well, I thought the same about him and the pirate stereotype.

I was too tired to argue. I glared at him till he turned away, then poked my tongue out at him. As he looked back, I looked away. Kuchiki Rukia, princess of maturity.

Kurosaki (yes, no more mushy feelings for _him) _put me down on the sick bed, which was actually, surprise, a hammock. I swayed precariously on it, feeling satisfied when it didn't dump me on the floor.

Kurosaki and I looked over at Renji, Hisagi, Omaeda, Inoue and Hanatarou, who were hovering next to something. He nodded once to them and they left the room.

Yuzu was lying on her side, apparently asleep. Inoue must've changed her bloodied shirt, as she was now wearing a large pink one, bandages peeking out from under it. I swallowed painfully.

He walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a medicine kit similar to the ones I had at my old home. He moved back to me, sliding a chair in front of me and sitting down, peering at me critically. He smirked and unwrapped crisp, white bandages.

I eyed him warily. 'Do you know what you're doing?'

His eyes narrowed. 'Just 'cause I'm a pirate doesn't mean I'm a complete idiot' I couldn't argue with that. Or maybe I could. I argue a lot, as he put it.

As he leaned forward, wrapping the bandages around my head surprisingly gently, I looked down at my lap, which was partially obscured by Kurosaki's overlarge cloak. My nightdress was clinging to my skin, and I was _very_ cold. I looked up at _Kurosaki._ He was working on my head, muttering, with nothing but his soaked shirt. Damn, I wish he put something over it…

'Not a complete idiot?' I muttered sarcastically. 'I don't know, I think it's pretty stupid becoming a pirate in the first place'

Kurosaki snorted. 'It's not like I had a choice. After my family was murdered, people were afraid of me and Yuzu, so this was the last lifestyle we had'

I looked over at the kind, honey-haired girl who was grimacing, feeling a sudden flare of anger. I turned to Kurosaki.

'Doesn't it bother you that you're risking her life?' I jerked my head towards Yuzu. Kurosaki's face hardened once more.

'More than you can imagine', he muttered so low, I don't think he intended for me to hear. While he worked on the deep cut in my arm, I thought about Inoue.

'How did Inoue end up in this?' I asked. 'She doesn't seem very…' Kurosaki chuckled humourlessly, apparently still upset about Yuzu.

'She came to me one day, wanting revenge against the people who killed her brother and best friend, Tatsuki', Kurosaki explained. 'I needed a crew, so I agreed to let her on'

'Ishida and Chad?'

'Ishida is the last of a once famous tribe of archers, the Quincy. He hates me from some old grudge, but wanted to join the crew to avenge his grandfather', Kurosaki paused to pick up a bottle of clear liquid. 'Chad is here to avenge his grandfather, and we have a special pact'

'Hisagi, Kira and Renji?'

'Renji's an old friend', Kurosaki smiled wryly. 'He's obsessed with pirates and asked me if he could join when he saw me docked at Kusajishi. Hisagi and Kira were running from a bunch of people they owed money too, and ended up here'

'Yoruichi and Urahara?'

'Urahara tried to sell me some strange stuff, so I whacked him over the head and told him to go away. He told me I was an atrocious fighter and said he could teach me. Yoruichi's been with him for a loooooong time. She was asleep when we agreed to the deal. She hates the sea, and went spastic at Urahara as soon as she realized she was on a ship', he grinned.

'Omaeda and Hanatarou?'

'They were together. Omaeda was bullying Hanatarou, so Inoue stopped him. Omaeda tries to attack her, and the next thing he knows, he's flat on his back with Inoue's daggers pressed up against his throat. Hanatarou was grateful and decided to help us with medical things, and I needed more brawn, so I bribe Omaeda with food to join us'

'Keigo and Akira?'

'Keigo's also an old friend. I can't decide if I like him or hate him. Akira…well, you know his story', Kurosaki smiled again. 'Any more questions?'

I blushed slightly. 'I was just curious. You're all so…different'

Another smile. 'We like our life style'

'What's going to happen to me?' I blurted out. Kurosaki's smile vanished and he frowned.

'You're done', he announced, packing away the bandages and ointments. I sighed. Was I ever going to get a straight answer?

He eyed me critically again. 'Can you walk?'

I snorted and stood up, smiling smugly. My smile faded as black dots appeared in front of my eyes and the ground got closer. With a small 'Oh', I fell into Kurosaki's awaiting arms.

'I guess not', he sighed. He once again picked me up easily, walking out of the room. I smiled feebly at the assorted pirates who clapped and yelled things out, but I couldn't focus on them. My hearing seemed distant.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against Kurosaki's chest. I felt him chuckle. 'Finally warming up to me, huh?' a weak growl was my response.

I felt him take a different set of directions, and as I heard his footsteps going down, I realized with a jolt where we were going.

'It's either this or throw up in your hammock from falling off so much', Kurosaki said irritably.

'Harass me again, and you'll wake up with one less body part' I threatened in a murmur. I heard and felt Kurosaki chuckle, before placing me gently on the bed.

'Whilst you're nice to hug, you snore and you take over the whole bed' I scowled and blushed slightly, rolling onto my stomach.

* * *

**_aww...ichiXRuki is adorable!_**

**_If you're awesome , you'll read my fic. if you're really awesome you'll review/leave a supportive message._**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	16. Muse

**_Ohayo! i'll just say this now: I won't be updating as often, due to a very mean math teacher DX _**

**_omgomgomg! Ulquiorra's release! I KNEW IT! I knew it was either a bat or cheetah, and i was riiiiight bishes! _****_sorry im happy and high on pocky. bad combo ^^_**

**_he lastest bleach ep was friggen awesome! Urahara Kisuke you ROCK!_**

**_anyways..._**

* * *

Well, things have returned to normal on the _Moon's Fang._ Ever since that incident with Zaraki Kenpachi, he has been distancing himself from me even more than usual. Which I guess has to be good in a way, since I find it nearly impossible to be comfortable around _him_ anymore. And not just because he laughed and patted my head then walked off after I properly thanked him for saving my ever frail life.

I can't stop thinking about what would have been my last moments alive. And the last person to appear in them. Why _him_, of all people? I would have understood Nanao and Byakuya, even Ayumi and Hisako, but _him?_ A person I've known for now three and a half months?! That's ridiculous, and completely untrue.

Whilst my brain seems to hate Kurosaki Ichigo with every fiber of its being, my heart seems to think differently. And it frustrates me. I'm not used to being confused, and those irritating feelings emerge after my embarrassment and something scarier in Kurosaki's orange-haired presence.

I only love Kaien, and I always will. Nothing can change that. Except my new destination. My father must be furious and desperate to get me back, and he and Kaien have probably teamed up together. It must look bad though, the bride getting kidnapped on a day that was meant to bring peace to two nations at war.

I gave a sigh of frustration. My musings were taking me nowhere. I gingerly hopped off my cursed hammock and made my way out the door, intent on visiting Yuzu.

When I got there, I saw I wasn't alone. I heard loud voices which were hushed into a rush of words. I quietly waited behind the door, listening intently.

'…Don't deny it. I _know_ you do', Inoue's harsh voice seemed loud and clear. What was she doing here? I jerked as I heard another very familiar voice.

'I don't, Inoue', Kurosaki snapped back in a whisper. 'You're just making things up, as usual'

'My food habits have nothing to do with this! I know you like her! I've seen the change in you over the past few months even if you don't!'

'I _don't._ How would you know anyway?'

Inoue's voice turned cold. 'You know how I feel about you, yet you openly reject that, and go flouncing off some midget princess! And besides, you sleep talk'

'No and NO. If you want to turn into a bitter old hag because of this, go ahead, but you can only blame yourself'

'You liking her will only make it more painful when we get there', Inoue hissed.

I shied into the shadows as Kurosaki's loud footfalls stalked past me. I waited, not breathing, as Inoue slowly and silently walked after him, mumbling under her breath.

I remained where I was, head spinning. He…liked me too? Well that was confusing. He seemed to deny it quite strongly. And what was with Inoue? Did she like him? If so, that might explain her iciness towards me, but I seriously doubted Kurosaki liked me. As far as we both knew, we hate each other. No confused feelings are going to change that.

I sighed uncomfortably and silently entered the room, moving to the still unconscious Yuzu's side. I smiled faintly.

'It's been pretty boring without you, Yuzu', I whispered with a sigh. 'Inoue's taken over the job of cooking, and you know what she's like. At least you'll never run out of company in here...'

* * *

A half hour later, I returned to my little room, yawning. I hoped Yuzu hadn't been conscious throughout my monologue. There were some things I told her that wouldn't do any good if Kurosaki overheard them.

With a loud sigh, I collapsed on my hammock, spreading myself on it evenly so it didn't tip me over.

'Eh? You again?' an unfamiliar voice asked. I opened an eye, shrieking and jumping about a foot in the air a split second later.

A tall, dark-skinned woman with bright, cat-like eyes was staring at me blankly, a small pink towel wrapped around her head. Oh, and she was naked.

My hammock did a 360 degree spin before tipping me flat on my face. I hissed at the pain from my still wounded head, touching it gingerly. Squeezing my eyes shut, I whirled around to face the intruder.

'W-Who the heck are you?' I asked, my voice high-pitched. There was a low chuckle.

'You don't recognize me?' the voice asked, amused. 'I've been here for a couple of weeks now'

I remained silent. The woman sighed. 'Shihouin Yoruichi, baka'

'What?' I opened my eyes, quickly closing them again. 'Can you put some clothes on please?' another chuckle.

'Clothes are so confining though', Yoruichi whined, smile in her voice. 'I haven't been in this form for a while, so give me a break, ne?'

I turned around, opening my eyes and facing the wall in front. 'So…You're really a magic woman?' I asked Yoruichi over my shoulder. I almost heard her eyes roll.

'Yeah, I guess I am' she replied. 'You didn't believe Inoue and Yuzu did you?'

I blushed slightly. 'I was raised to believe in fact, not make believe'

Yoruichi snorted. '_Fact_. Sure. I bet it's a relief to get away from all that palace rubbish, eh?'

I nodded slowly, biting my lip. I've been trying to tell myself that I wanted to go back to Kuchiki, but my damn brain wouldn't accept it, and neither would I.

I heard Yoruichi yawn, and heard her light, cat-like footsteps. She breezed past me and made her way over to the door. I looked pointedly up at the ceiling.

'W-Where are you goin?' I asked in alarm. She wasn't really planning on going out like that…was she?

'What do you think?' Yoruichi shouted over her shoulder. 'I'm going to have breakfast! A girl's gotta eat, Rukia!'

I sighed and leaned back on the cold wood, which quickly soothed my throbbing head. I heard the door to the dining room open, and I waited patiently for the screams.

3…2…_1_!

There were startled yelps and shrieks, followed by the clattering of cutlery, then several muffled thump, followed by a huge one which must have been Omaeda.

'Agh!' Kurosaki's voice shouted, louder than the others. 'Yoruichi! Put some damn clothes on!'

There was more muffled scraping, followed by the squeak of the door opening once more. I sat up with a jolt, eyes wide and lips parted in horror as I realized that I had left my little diary in Kurosaki's room.

I had spent a total of two days there, due to worry that I couldn't walk properly, and as a way of relieving my boredom, I had asked Inoue to bring me my diary from our room. On the day I left, I forgot about it, leaving it where it lay under my pillow, which had just been vacated this morning.

I staggered to my feet and clumsily made my way over to the door, yanking it open and running like the wind over to Kurosaki's room, leaping down the stairs, skidding to a stop at the door, panting.

Kurosaki was holding the little blue book with two fingers, eyeing it curiously. He started opening it. With a wild shriek, I tore through the air. He barely looked up before I tackled him, sending the diary flying up in the air.

We, or rather he, landed heavily on the floor, me on top. Kurosaki rubbed his head and looked at me furiously. 'What the Hueco Mundo?' he shouted, staring at me in shock. (**A/N Hueco Mundo=Hell in this story XD even though I'm nowhere near religious, its one of mi fave sayings ^^)**

I ignored him, reaching for the diary that was steadily falling back down to earth, in my reach.

'Oh no you don't', Kurosaki growled. He tipped me over, so I was on my back and he was looming over me. The diary hit him on the head before landing on the ground a small distance away. I looked up at him angrily.

'I didn't know you liked top', Kurosaki smirked, eyes glinting. I stifled a blush and scowled at him, squirming. Dammit, being vertically challenged can be really inconvenient at times like this. Now that I looked closer, I saw signs of a quickly stifled nosebleed. Yoruichi really made a statement.

Using one arm to keep mine pinned, he reached over and plucked up the diary, flipping it open and squinting at it. 'You're writing's tiny! What is this thing anyway?'

I hissed angrily, and used a trick Inoue taught me. Kurosaki's eyes went wide and he dropped the diary, clutching his groin and falling off me with a whimper.

I grabbed the diary and started crawling away triumphantly, only to be pulled back by my ankle. I yelped and dropped the diary again.

'You…you', Kurosaki's face was red, and his chocolate eyes no longer held any humour. Ok, maybe that was a bad move.

'You're not getting this thing back anymore', he snarled, jumping over me and grabbing the diary, before standing up, slightly stooped in pain, holding it above his head. I growled and jumped up, trying to grab it. He grinned.

'Too bad, midget' he chuckled, opening it once again. His eyes widened.

'Why is my name in here?' he asked angrily. 'And why am I drawn like that stupid rabbit of yours?!'

Oh, that did it. He not only refused to give me back my diary and call me a midget, but he offended Chappy? Now I'm angry. He's going _down._

* * *

**wow 1992 words XD**

**okay, i think we've had enough MINOR ichiruki moments, and next chapter is going to be a GINORMOUSi one! ;) **

**enough spoilers, please review!**

**till next time, **

**-lazy llama- also! check out mi profile pic. Its how i imagine ichigo and Rukia each time i look at this story ^^**


	17. Shall we dance?

**_O.m.g. XD You're all gonna LOVE me by the end of this chapter!_**

**_I just updated my other fic, and same as i sed ther, i apologise if im late in updating, but i have school, and a life. _**

**_This is my favourite story atm, so i don't think i'll leave it unattended for too long ;)_**

**_the inspiration for this chapter came from my last IchiRuki display picture XD_**

* * *

'You're too slow. See?'

'Ouch! You idiot, what the Hueco Mundo was that for?'

'Princesses shouldn't swear'

'Don't you dare lecture me, you stupid fruitcake!'

'Who're you calling fruitcake, midget? OW!'

'Serves you right'

'You are so annoying!' we shouted at the same time. I huffed and turned away from him, my sword slicing the air an inch from my face. From the red glow behind me, I guess Kurosaki was angry too.

'Can you two get along?' Yuzu's annoyed voice snapped from the small crowd of watchers. I bit my lip, sticking my nose up in the air.

One more week had passed since Yuzu had gotten stabbed by that STUPID _PIRATE_, and we had all woken up one night, sleepwalking to the kitchen where something delicious and probably edible was being made. Surprise! It's _FOOD…_and Yuzu!

It's good having her back, though Inoue's upset that she can't could her "Exciting and exotic" food combinations. Yesterday night I heard her whining that she wanted to go to Hitsugaya (**The KINGDOM)**, where her best friend Matsumoto Rangiku was. Then they could share the new food experiences they gleamed from their year long absence and experiment some more. I felt sorry for Hitsugaya Toushirou, the heir and unwilling best friend of Matsumoto.

'Ne, Rukia-chan?' Yuzu's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. I turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

'Can you help me with the cooking today', she asked sweetly. 'I'm moving a bit slowly at the moment', she gestured at her torso with a small wince. I hesitated. I'd never cooked anything before. All my food was prepared for me by servants and served to me in an exquisite silver tray, complete with gold cutlery and fancy napkins.

Well, why not? I've already broken every other rule in the Guide to Being a Good Princess.

This should be interesting.

I nodded with a smile and dropped my sword, which I could use much better, following after Yuzu. Kurosaki snorted.

'You're gonna regret this'

* * *

'Ano…that's called a pan'

'And this one?'

'A pot'

'And this one?'

'Scrubbing brush'

I looked skeptically down at the large array of shiny, spotless kitchenware in front of me. I felt sorry for the chefs who cooked for me if they had to deal with this…

'You can start by peeling the potatoes with this', Yuzu held up a small, blunt knife. 'And after, help me lift the big pot over the stove' (**I dunno what they cooked stuff on in the P.O.C days DX)**

Yuzu delivered more instructions over the space of a half hour. I was already tired of this. I sighed as I dumped another not-so-attractive, half-peeled/demolished potato in the bowl. Something shiny caught my eye and I turned too see some sort of long, fancy silver fork.

I dropped the peeling-thing and reached towards the fork, curious. 'Yuzu, what's thi-?'

_Twang!_

The fork-like object flew out of my hands and embedded itself in the wall, knocking down some sort of hammer. My eyed widened as the hammer fell on the neat array of shiny, pointy knives on a board. Of course, the hammer landed on the very edge, sending the sharp cutlery zooming through the air towards me.

I yelped and leapt back, hitting the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for the dangerous pointy things to turn me into the newly discovered Swiss cheese. There were several thunks of shiny pointy knives hitting wood, and the small _snick!_ As one of them skimmed past my neck.

'Rukia-chan!' Yuzu shrieked, dropping something. My eyes opened slowly and I titled my head, only to see my own scared reflection on a quivering knife stuck deep in the wood, a centimeter from my face.

* * *

**(Kurosaki POV)**

I tapped my fingers impatiently, waiting for screams and an explosion. Yuzu's nice, but she's too positive. "The glass is half full, Ichii-nii! Put a smile on your grumpy face!"

Yeah, sure. With that midget's luck, that happy glass would be in a million pieces.

'Oi, Iccchhiiigoooo-ow!' Keigo's lame joke was cut short by my fist. I shot a small glare at him before resuming my glare fest with Inoue.

We all went silent, Omaeda pausing his throttling of Ishida, as there was a shriek from the kitchen, followed by a crash and several dull thunks. What'd she do, set an apple on fire?

'Oi, there's a knife pointing through the wood!' Akira exclaimed, pointing. Sure, enough, it was there. There was a small whimpering sound, followed by a muffled thump.

I wasn't sure if I'd be happy or sad if she died. Sure, it'll be a _big_ break, but my boss would kill me, and I shudder at the thought of her death. Which is strange, since I'm pretty sure I hate her. All she does is cause trouble, yap away all day, glare at me and fail miserably at fighting.

I gotta give her credit though. She's determined…

'We're alright!' Yuzu's strained voice called from the kitchen.

I sighed. Yoruichi grinned before winking at me and turning away to Urahara. Dammit I hate when she does that.

'F-Finished!'

We all turned hopefully towards the door as Yuzu and the midget came stumbling, or rather just her, holding what was to be our dinner. I frowned. I could easily tell what she made.

There was a dull thump as my plate was slid in front of me. My frown turned into a scowl. On second thought, is won't care if that midget dies.

On my plate was a horribly cut potato with bright orange carrots sticking out the stop. The face, yes _face_, of the potato was carved into the shape of that stupid ugly rabbit. Next to it was corn shaped into a spear, pointing at the orange-haired potato's head.

I looked up to see the midget eating her weird food neatly, a small smirk on her lips.

I've evolved from an invincible, intimidating pirate to a potato with a rabbit face. All that hard work gone in the space of a few months. Stupid _midgets_.

Inoue sighed appreciatively and leant back in her chair, canning the table lazily. She grinned at Yuzu. 'That meat was delicious! It was a funny-looking chicken though' Yuzu smiled in confusion, trying to remember if she actually cooked meat.

Ishida choked on his food, turning white. He dropped his fork and looked under the table, before straightening up with another horrified yelp.

Mittens!' he shouted. 'Where's my cat?!' he went into a full rampage, calling Inoue a 'pet eater' and getting into a fist fight with her and Kira, who was dragged in for some reason.

As soon as everyone finished their princess-made meal, Akira and Keigo leapt up, grinning. What now?

'Ne, tonight we're having a party!' Keigo shouted, doing a fancy dance move with Akira. Their grins widened. 'We beat that psychotic Zaraki Kenpachi _twice_ now!'

Cheers erupted from the small crowd. I remained silent. I hated parties.

* * *

(**Rukia POV)**

I winced at the loudness of the music and pushed myself up against a wall as Renji and Hisagi ran past, laughing and throwing something at each other. I sighed. I hated the fancy balls held at the palace, and I hated them here.

I jerked forward as someone threw an arm around my shoulder. I looked to see Keigo and Akira grinning like idiots, each of them looping an arm through mine.

'Ne, Rukia!' Akira shouted, cheeks red from alcohol. 'Dance with us!'

'Wha-?' without letting me answer, they pulled me into the small mass of refined pirates, dancing with me at the same time. I quickly got dizzy as I was being spun from one joker to the other, leaving me with no chance to yell for freedom.

I let out a whoosh of air as I staggered forward into the arms of a smiling Abarai Renji. I was still disoriented and tried blinking to get my focus back, not really listening to Renji's stammered words. I then got pulled into a dance with a sheepish Hanatarou, who got shoved aside by a winking Omaeda. Ok, I draw the line at him.

I shouted something and pointed over his shoulder. As he looked there, I slipped away in the crowd, thanking my height and slim build which let me get away quickly.

I gasped as I staggered outside, breathing in fresh air, my dizziness quickly fading. I exhaled, closing my eyes and leaning against the closed door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a light shining dully.

I don't know what compelled me to walk down those all too familiar steps, but I peeked around the door, looking for him anyway.

He was sitting at a chair in his desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper with a battered feather quill, usual frown adorning his young face.

'You can come in', Kurosaki said quietly I jumped. How had he heard me coming?

'You breathe quite loudly and the floorboards creak' I jumped again. Had he read my mind?

'No', Kurosaki smirked ever so slightly. I scowled. What a jerk.

He looked over at me lazily, chocolate eyes not portraying any particular emotion. I smiled faintly and entered the room, looking at the many objects on the shelves by his door.

Kurosaki leant back in his big chair, yawning widely. His yawn stopped abruptly as he stared at me with a frown. I frowned back at him.

'What now?' I asked grumpily. His face went abruptly blank.

'There's a cut on your neck', he stated bluntly. I felt along my neck, wincing as I felt a stinging pain coming from just above my collarbone. How did that get there? Probably from the knives.

'Doesn't matter', I replied with a shrug. He rolled his eyes and stood up, walking over to me and reaching over my head, pulling down a medical kit.

'Turn around', he demanded, pulling out a small white bandage. I sighed and did as he said; blushing slightly as his hands gently wove around my neck. Wow, I just _now _realize how small I am compared to him. If he wanted, he could quite easily throttle me.

By the look of his smirk, I could tell he was thinking the same thing. His fingers brushed against my collarbone, sending a small tingle down my spine. My pulse quickened, and his smirk turned smug. Stupid strawberry.

The music from above abruptly changed to a slow, steady beat. The type for slow dancing.

Kurosaki's eyes turned thoughtful, before his hand abruptly closed around my wrist, and he pulled me close, his other hand at my waist.

'W-What are you doing?' I asked alarmed, blood rushing to my cheeks. Kurosaki chuckled.

'Dancing, baka', he replied simply. 'I assume you know how to?'

After a moment of shock, I nodded. He knew how to dance? He didn't stop surprising me.

We started swaying to the beat awkwardly, or at least I was, confused by his sudden mood changes. Wasn't he yelling at me a few hours ago? He's so confusing!

* * *

**(Kurosaki POV)**

I didn't really know what I was doing. I know it's wrong, sure, but it feels right at the moment. How strange.

She let out a small gasp as I tugged her closer, cheeks turning red. Seems I have some sort of effect other than murderous intentions on her.

The music above us had steadied, and the loud cheering and thumping had changed to pretty much quite, probably meaning that they were just listening to Yuzu, Hisagi, Kira and Renji play.

The midget gradually relaxed as we continued dancing. Woah, she's tiny. Her head barely reaches my chest. She's too fragile to be somewhere like this. I felt a pang of anger and regret of what would happen when we reach her destination. Sometimes, my job sucks.

'Does…Zaraki Kenpachi know you from somewhere?' she murmured. I frowned. I hate that guy…

'Yeah', I replied nonchalantly. 'We got into a fight a while ago, and I barely won. Since then he's been desperate to kill me', she emitted another gasp as I twirled her suddenly, in time with the music.

'Doesn't anyone get sick of this lifestyle?', she let go of one of my hands, leaning back as the music rose, then moving back in time. She wasn't a bad dancer…

I snorted. 'Yeah, we all do sometimes'

She frowned. 'Then why do you do it?'

I gave an almost inaudible sigh. 'It's a bit late too go back now' though sometimes, I wish I could. Life can really suck sometimes…

'What kingdom were you originally from?' did the questions ever stop? I felt a weird tug in my gut and hoped it was irritation. Though it didn't really explain what I was doing now. It's like my body's not listening to my brain anymore, but rather my heart.

Where the heck was this coming from? What happened to my stoic, angsty demeanour I spent so long on developing????

I remained silent as she looked up at me with big, dark eyes. The less she knew about me, the better.

The music changed abruptly to a song I knew was Yoruichi's favourite. The song that was slightly inappropriate, not that she or her "Kissu-kun" minded one bit.

I hesitated, not sure what to do. The midget froze also, sensing the change in music and blushing. I smirked.

'Have you ever danced to this before?' I asked the midget. Her blush deepened at the sound of cheering from above and she shook her head. My lips curved up. This was going to be funny.

She yelped as I suddenly pulled her closer, arms tightening around her small waist. Ignoring her stuttered question, I twirled her suddenly, sending her spinning once, twice, before lowering her till she almost hit the ground.

She looked up at me with big eyes, and I smirked again. I lifted her up easily, and she surprised me by doing another spin, sliding under my arms and twisting me around. It was her turn to smirk.

'I told you I could dance', there was a still a faint trace of blush on her cheeks, but she was smiling at least, and she didn't look like she was going to bash me over the head.

We continued dancing, and after a few minutes, it had almost turned into an intense battle over who dominates the dance. She was definitely not like any princess I've met before…

A strange electricity suddenly coursed through my veins, making me alert to every movement, making everything go in slow motion. My pulse and breathing quickened, and my surroundings vanished as the dance continued, night-blue eyes locked on mine.

She matched me step by step, gesture by gesture. It was a strange exhilaration I hadn't felt before, and I felt the midget shudder, but not blush, as my hands lingered for longer than necessary on her upper arms. She spun around, leaning back into my chest. Perfect fit.

She jumped back up, and I twirled her again, mind in a daze, chest pounding with an unknown emotion and exertion. As the song neared the climax, I lifted her up once then back down. She slid smoothly under my arms as I pulled her into a low spin, and she pivoted on one knee as the other swept around her before collapsing in my arms, just above the floor.

I loomed over her, both of us panting. Her dark eyes were even darker, sending a weird tingling down my spine. Her heaving chest stopped abruptly, and her face went blank, eyes sparkling and dazed. She leaned up, closer and closer to my face, eyes drooping till they were almost shut.

Driven by an instinct different from battle, I leaned in too, eyes locked on hers, her mouth getting closer and closer…

* * *

**_K.. AAAA!!! ^^ XD IM HYPERVENTILATING!!!_**

**_am i awesome, or am i awesome? XD if u say anything about OOCness, i will virtually bish slap u. That's right, BISH slap_**

**_till next kissy time, _**

**_-lazy llaaaaaaama-_**


	18. Day After

**_I HATE Apple. Ipods SUCK. to those of you thinking of getting one, DON'T. And don't call me an Apple nazi, cuz im telling the truth. _**

**_anyways, im thinking of starting a new ichiRuki fic soon. i'll put up the summary in my profile soon._**

**_enjooooooooy!!!!! _**

* * *

(**Kurosaki POV)**

I had just gotten the feel of her trembling lips before-

'Iiiiiichiiiigoooooo!'

My eyes widened and I jerked back, dropping the midget the remaining few centimeters on the ground. Luckily for us, Keigo's eyes were obscured by a bandana and he was spinning on the spot drunkenly, giggling.

She yelped as she hit the ground and looked up, dazed and frowning in confusion, probably wondering the same as me.

What the heck just happened?

I wasn't sure whether to be pissed or relieved that Keigo broke the weird spell. Who knew what could've happened?

'Keigo', I fixed a scowl on my face to mask my confusion. 'What the hell are you doing?'

Keigo raised his arms in front of him, stumbling forward and grabbing my shirt, swaying. 'Well, Akira and Renji kinda blindfolded me and Shuuhei dropped a mouse down my back. We don't know where it is now'

I sighed and tugged the blindfold off roughly. He smiled brightly. I pointed to the door. 'Out!'

Keigo pouted. 'You can't stay shut up in here forever, Ichigo! We dunno what you do here but it can't be healthy!' he shot a suspicious glance at the fallen princess.

'Keigo!' I shouted, temper rising. '_Out!'_ Didn't I tell Yoruichi and Hisagi that Keigo wasn't old enough for any unnecessary education? Now he's a pervert. Go figure.

Keigo sighed. 'You missed out on a lotta fun, Ichigo', he grinned down at the still dumbfounded midget. 'Ne, Rukia-chan! What're you doing there?' He cast another suspicious glance at me.

'Pervert!' I shouted, whacking him over the head. He whimpered and staggered back out the door, getting pulled into a headlock by an equally drunk Akira. The door swung shut behind them.

Leaving me and the unmoving midget in an unbelievably awkward silence. I glared up at the ceiling, mentally swearing, before taking a deep breath and turning to face the princess.

She was still staring blankly up at the ceiling, eyes burning.

'Uh…' for probably the second time in my life, I was lost for words. 'Are you…okay?' dark blue eyes shifted their position from the ceiling to mine, going blank.

'Okay?' she mumbled. She stared at me for a while longer before suddenly blinking and jumping about a foot in the air, shrieking. I jerked back as she leapt to her feet, breathing heavily, no particular expression on her face.

'W-What…?' she whispered. She shook her head furiously. 'No …_Kaien_…why?!' with a growl, she reached up and whacked the back of my head. Little stars appeared in my vision, and I staggered back a bit.

I blinked to clear the stars, and the last thing I saw was her purple dress and pale arm before the doors slammed shut once more.

I stood there for a moment, something I couldn't describe other than hurt and confusion settling into my chest. I sighed.

'This is why I'm single'

I frowned as an unwilling idea settled into my mind. But it would be necessary. I was dangerously close…

* * *

**(Rukia POV)**

'Dammit! Dammit, Dammit, _Dammit!'_

'Dammit!'I took a deep breath, then sighed, letting my body fall back onto my _favourite_ hammock. It seemed to sense I was in no mood, as it didn't tip me over.

I looked over at Inoue's hammock. Empty. The party must still be going…

Fine with me, I feared for the lives of the people who disturb me now.

I rolled onto my side and buried my face in my pillow, the previous half hour fresh in my mind. What was I thinking? _Him?_ Of all people, probably my worst enemy? What was _wrong_ with me?

What I was about to do would've sent me straight down to Hueco Mundo, unheard of and not allowed for an engaged princess. Not even engaged, just a princess in general!

I reluctantly admitted that I owed Keigo a thanks for stopping that…kiss. I winced at the word, the memory filling my mind, his inviting lips and dark chocolate eyes making me shudder.

Though I hated to admit to myself, I had never felt so…_alive_ in my life. I had been taught various dances in my daily routines, learning new ones weekly, and had blushed furiously whilst learning the overly intimate one I just danced with my enemy.

My old life quickly got me bored and sad, wanting to get away, away to somewhere open. Somewhere like…like the _Moon's Fang._

Maybe that's why my escapes were half-hearted. I had always longed for open waters, literally. Now I was in them. Despite my fear of drowning, sea sickness and hammocks, I really quite liked it here. It was so…free, and expressive.

I didn't move as Yuzu burst through the door, clutching her ears. 'Too loud', she muttered. Without acknowledging me, she stumbled over to her hammock and collapsed. Light snoring started after a few minutes.

My heart fluttered and I blushed again as thoughts of what occurred swam across my mind yet again, and I felt a small twinge of regret at Keigo's untimely interruption. A loud smack echoed around the room as I whacked myself in the forehead, wincing a second later.

Those unwanted feelings were instantly followed by guilt as Kaien's all too familiar face followed, smiling gently. What would he say if he saw this now? I didn't like the way Kurosaki spoke of him, as if he knew him…

I sighed and curled up on my side, hugging the pillow and looking across at Yuzu's motionless body. There was a light squeaking noise, and my eyes shifted to a corner, where a pair of bright yellow eyes were shining in the moonlight.

'I found the mouse' I murmured blankly, closing my eyes. My heart jolted, and my tired eyes flew open.

'KYAIIIII!' **(A/N Kyaii is diff from kyaa, which is fan girl squeal. Kyaii is like "HOLY CRAP" or something similar)**

* * *

I jerked back to consciousness, tipping off my hammock, as I heard a loud thump coming from the kitchen upstairs. I frowned, getting to my feet. Yuzu hadn't moved since she first fell asleep.

The kitchen door swung open, revealing a disaster zone. This room couldn't even be called a room anymore. It looked like someone used cannons on it…

The muffled thump was Renji falling off the chandelier, wrapped in a graffitied bed sheet. Inoue was lying on the table, wearing a matching necklace and tiara of bones, face painted. Omaeda was on the floor, Ishida's white and blue clad legs poking out from under him. Chad was sitting in a chair, wearing a huge pink and green frilly hat. It was hard to tell whether he was awake or asleep.

Urahara and Yoruichi were nowhere to be seen…probably a good thing. Hanatarou was covered in some green and blue slime, hoisted up on a wall like a multi-coloured fish. Hisagi was the most shocking. He was wearing a pink and orange dress and matching scarves, face covered in clumsily put makeup. His legs were on the table, the rest of him on the floor, upside down, revealing sights better hidden.

I smirked as I saw the party planners.

Akira was suspended from the ceiling in a net, limbs poking through the holes. His hair was multi-coloured, and his face was also covered in makeup. He was drooling, occasionally twitching, disturbing the empty bottles of rum and who knows what else littered around him. He was only wearing a loincloth.

Keigo was spread-eagled on the wall, the blue-hilted tips of Inoue's daggers keeping him pinned there. He had been forced into a frilly skirt of Inoue's and a too small top from Yuzu. Bottles were stuck on the wall around him, taking the shape of his body. He was gagged and blindfolded, hair stuck up and similar to Akira's.

A slow smile lit up my face. Boy was I glad I left early. I couldn't imagine what I would be like drunk. All I could say to these refined pirates was _sucks to be you_ (**My fave saying!).**

I whirled around as the creaking door swung open again, revealing a blurry-eyed Kurosaki. I blushed and turned back around, crossing my arms.

'W-What are you doing here?' I asked, looking pointedly at the ceiling. Kurosaki snorted.

'It is _my_ ship, ya know', he replied. 'I need Yuzu's "Day After" medicine'

I frowned. 'You drink?' he stepped over Hisagi's snoring body, unsmiling, and started rummaging through a closet.

'Why else would I have danced with you?' he asked me coldly. I winced. He sounded even more resentful than I felt.

'Does this happen often?' I asked lightly. He shrugged, tossing random bottled over his shoulder.

I frowned. What, no teasing? Taunting? No snide comments? It usually doesn't take much to make his grumpy, but it's too early in the morning.

'You're not very talkative'I stated. He finally found the bottle he was looking for and finally turned to look at me, face blank, frowning slightly.

'We're arriving at your destination in one week', he announced. My blood ran cold for some reason. Not because of the words, but because of how he said it…like he didn't care. Like I was just another package to deliver.

'One week', I repeated in a whisper. One week till my impending doom. One week till I arrive at the mystery place, be it good or bad. One week…

He nodded, face still cold and unchanging. He brushed past me, back out the door, and I automatically grabbed the sleeve of his black cloak. He paused, looking down at me coldly.

'One week till I can finally get rid of you', he stated icily. 'You're more trouble than you're worth' he jerked out of my limp grip, striding out the door without a backward glance.

Good thing he didn't, otherwise he would've caught the silent tears streaming down my face.

* * *

**_ok, i dont no bout you, but this made me depressed. And its hard to do that..._**

**_I am vurrently writing a new fanfiction called Bleach Fairy Tales. It involves Ichigo as goldilocks, Komamura as the big bad wolf, and Gin as an evil old witch luring Sentarou and Kiyone into his/her gingerbread house._**

**_it'll be up soon, after i do three chapters. Im currently writing Little Red Shiro-chan._**


	19. Confessions

_**Just to clear things out on Rukia's VERY SLIGHT, ALMOST INVISIBLE OOCness, she has my personality in this fic. She's doing what i would do XD**_

**_omg, the second best song ever :Candypop by Heartsdales XD it's half Japanese half English, and its friggen awesome! Youtube it! There's a really cute Shugo chara version of it with Amuto and Kutau ^^_**

**_anyways, please don't hate me by the end of this chapter. This story is coming to an end soon! DX_**

_

* * *

_

_I was running._

_Running through a bleak, empty plane, fear and despair clawing at my chest. Running towards a faint glow in the distance, which was calling me. Running from the nameless faces behind me, a strange roaring in my ears. _

_Running from the reality I didn't want to face._

_And the ground beneath me was crumbling. I looked desperately to the faint glow, which was almost in reach-_

_With a groaning crack, the barren land beneath my feet split. With a final leap, I reached out to grasp the bright glow, only to have it vanish with a small hiss, leaving me falling down into the grim, grasping hole beneath._

_I just grasped the edge of the cliff in front of me, but that too was about to break off. The jagged cracks in it were getting uncomfortably closer._

_Then an angel's face appeared above me, dark hair standing out against the lightning struck sky, hazel eyes and smile warm. He reached out a hand, preparing to pull me up. As I grabbed the hand, the warm face went abruptly blank, murmuring something before pulling his hand back to his body, looking down at me coldly._

_I was falling._

_It was as if my senses were cut off. I could no longer feel the cold or fear, nor see. My eyes closed, a small, sad smile on my face. _

_Then something orange flashed in front of my eyes._

_Inoue? Yuzu?_

_I reached towards them feebly, trying to speak, but they remained expressionless, watching my pitiful attempts coldly before vanishing, only to be replaced by Akira and Keigo._

_One by one, the crew of the _Moon's Fang _flashed in front of my eyes, the last things I would ever see._

_Then I was surrounded by water, dark and chilling. My senses came back, and I immediately started flailing, not wanting to be in this situation again._

_Ayami's bright red head popped up, along with Hisako's dark one. They too watched as I slowly drowned, not trying to help me, save me, do _something_. My first and best friends, not helping me for the first time ever._

_Byakuya and Nanao. Byakuya looked at me blankly, betraying no emotion at his drowning sister. Nanao's violet eyes were as critical as ever, probably staring at my new, more revealing pirate outfits with heavy disdain._

_My late sister, Hisana. It was like looking into a mirror. A kind, smiling mirror image of myself, but older. Like everyone else, she too vanished. With each friendly face that disappeared, it felt like another shard of ice piercing my heart._

_My flailing stopped at the last face in my head._

_The bright hair, beautiful eyes, the small smile. I reached towards him, temporarily forgetting my situation._

With a choked gasp, I jerked back awake, panting.

'Geez, keep it down', Inoue's voice, thick from sleep, growled out of the darkness. 'People are trying to sleep…' the rest of her sentence became an unintelligible mumble. Light snoring began after a few minutes.

I collapsed back on the hammock, mind spinning. That was by far the worst dream I've ever had. I had a twisted feeling in my stomach that woke me up. I knew what was going to happen if I touched his hand…

He would vanish. Just like everyone else. He would disappear into thin air, leaving me yet again.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention. I hate him. Truly. _He_ had the nerve to give me the cold (_freezing)_ shoulder after what had nearly happened. He had gotten my hopes up, only to crush them to the cold bitter ground once more.

According to a solemn Akira and Yuzu, I had one more day of freedom before I arrived at my destination. Everyone was distancing themselves from me now. They, like _him_, had finally sensed the danger of getting closer to me than pirate-hostage princess laws allowed.

If they thought it would lessen the pain for me, they were wrong. I now felt more alone and scared than I had ever been before in my life. The feelings coursing through my veins now were worse than the fear, fury and horror on the day of my ruined wedding.

I rolled onto my side, trying to forget the very real-feeling nightmare that kept popping in my head. I couldn't believe that I had gone from a safe, ignorant, rebellious princess to a rough-living, sword-fighting pirate girl, hardly recognizable compared to my old self.

_He_ and Inoue really shouldn't have taught me how to defend myself. If they had left me as a weak, defenceless little princess, I probably wouldn't cause any trouble.

They would regret it some day very soon.

* * *

'Breakfast time, Rukia', I ignored Yuzu's quiet announcement, not looking up from the book I was reading. Yuzu left after a moment, her sigh almost inaudible. I was hungry, but I didn't want to go to breakfast.

I didn't want to face the solemn faces. The faces that, like me, where shocked at how fast the past four months had sped by, and now I had less than a day before I arrived at my impending fate.

I didn't want to face _him_. I at least, found it awkward and almost unbearable. Whenever I saw him, or even thought about him, it would bring unwanted feelings to surface. Feelings I had never felt before till a few weeks ago. Feelings that I thought I held for only one man.

I sat up, running a hand through my now long hair and staring around the room. Yoruichi was taking a cat nap, literally, tail occasionally flicking up in the air. Inoue and Yuzu were upstairs, the daily kitchen chaos absent for once, replaced by a low hum of voices.

I smiled faintly. I had always expected pirates to be bloodthirsty, hairy men with swords similar to them, rough and scarred. The past few months had completely changed my perspective. There were actually women aboard the _Moon's fang, _something I hadn't expected. And these people were actually civilized.

Half of the time anyway.

I admitted to myself reluctantly that I would miss these _12_ refined pirates who didn't kill people and put bean paste on ice cream. Wherever I was going, they weren't coming with me. Through the small window in the room, I could see land steadily growing closer, but I had never been to sea, so I don't know what it was. Maybe another stop along the way?

I jumped slightly as Yuzu re-entered the room, carrying a big plate of food. She walked over to me and placed it on my lap, sitting lithely next to me, and hugging me. I stayed where I was, frozen with shock.

'Ne, I'll miss you, Rukia-chan', Yuzu said quietly. 'You…You remind me so much of my sister', she smiled a little wistfully. 'I really don't want you to go'

'Your sister…' I murmured. Yuzu nodded into my shoulder.

'She was killed along with me and Ichii-nii's mother and father', Yuzu said. 'You and Karin, my sister, have similar personalities…you even look a little bit alike', she smiled.

'She had black hair?' I was trying to keep the conversation going. Yuzu was my best friend on this cursed ship, and she took my mind off my swiftly approaching doom. She nodded again.

'No-one knows why Ichii-nii ended up with _orange_ hair', she giggled. 'I got my mother's hair colour, Karin got father's, and Ichii got…clown hair', we both smiled.

'He gets pretty touchy about it doesn't he?' I asked, ignoring the cold feeling in my gut.

'You get touchy when people call you short', Yuzu pointed out. My eye twitched.

'I'm _not_ short!' I mumbled. 'I'm _small_, there's a _big_ difference!'

'If you say so', Yuzu giggled again. Another eye twitch from me. We remained silent for a while I moodily stabbed pieces of fruit on my plate. I was deliberately avoiding the strawberries.

'Ichii-nii likes you', I choked on a piece of melon while Yuzu thumped me on the back. I shot her a small embarrassed glare, shoving more pieces of fruit in my mouth to bite back my reply. 'I already told you', she smiled. 'I know Ichii better than anyone. He's never shown so much emotion to a single person. Not even me' her smile turned sad.

The door opened gently, revealing _him._ My cheeks heated up and I quickly looked away, fuming. There was no snort at my reaction like he would usually do, just cold silence. The usual cold, cautious silence he kept around me.

'Yuzu…' was all he said. Wordlessly Yuzu got up, placing a trembling hand on my shoulder before moving away.

'Ichii-nii…'

'You knew it was going to happen eventually, Yuzu', I heard Yoruichi's meow as she gently got up, brushing against my leg before leaving with Yuzu.

I heard his silent footfalls, and instinctively jerked away when I felt his hands around my wrists. I looked up at him in surprise, his brown eyes boring into mine, freezing me in place. There was a small click, and I blinked out of my stupor, gasping as I looked down.

His hands moved away from mine, revealing thick metal bracelets linked around my wrists. I looked up at him in alarm, eyes widening.

'Precaution', he said carelessly, making his way over to the door. I quickly recovered from my shock and leapt up, running over to him awkwardly, my hands barely a few centimeters apart. I grabbed his black cloak, making him stop at the door.

I shoved him away from the door and slammed it shut. It took me a while to lock it with clumsy fingers. He didn't move behind me, and I could feel him burning curious and angry holes in the back of my head, which must be sizzling.

I finally shoved the bolt home and whirled to face him, staring straight into his frowny face. What did _he_ have to be frowny about?

'What are you doing?' he asked coldly, crossing his arms. I scowled at him.

'It probably doesn't matter to you, since I'll be out of your damn, _abnormal_ clown hair very soon', his wince was barely noticeable. 'But it matters to me', I growled, surprised and mortified at the sudden bravery and fury pumping through my body. 'You've been avoiding me and being a jerk for the past weeks, and I'm sick of it. If you have a problem with me, then just say it', I took a breath.

'Though you'd never admit it, I know you're embarrassed about what nearly happened. You're embarrassed, and you regret it', I winced. 'Fine, so do I. In more ways than you could possibly imagine. But since today is my last day seeing you, I might as well get it off my chest', I took another deep breath, my brain screaming for me to run away.

'When I first saw you, I honestly hated you', I told him. 'You were an arrogant jerk who ruined my wedding and probably ruined the peace between Kuchiki and Shiba. You made me feel like a tiny speck in this world full of _refined_ pirates and talking cats and 9 year old girls whacking people over the head with a frying pan. I did the only thing I could do, which was fight back.' I felt a strange, unwanted prickling at the back of my eyes.

'Unwillingly, I felt myself _drawn_ to you', I said bitterly. 'I hated you, but…but wanted you at the same time. Everything about you annoys me to no end. Your personality, your arrogance, your hair, but I was still drawn to you like a moth to a flame.' I ignored his impassive face. 'We're opposites in almost every way, but I still have f-feelings for you that I never expected to', yep, definitely crying now.

'We talked, we fought we even…almost kissed. I loved all of it. Every touch, every almost-laugh, every insult. Despite my reluctance, I found it all…special. My feelings for you are stronger than they are for…for K-Kaien', I angrily wiped a tear from my eye. 'I hated you, now I _love_ you', there we go, I said it. The very words I'd been denying for how long now?

'These new, intense feelings are confusing me. I feel horrible because this was supposed to happen with _Kaien!_ Not you, a-a _pirate._ A stupid refined pirate sent to kidnap me and take me who knows where without telling me, without being kind or careful or anything! Yet you became more than just a pirate to me. You moved past a truce, past friendship, and evolved into something more to me.', I laughed, a bitter, derisive sound I'd never made in my life.

'And…I tried convincing myself…convincing myself that it was _wrong, ridiculous_ to fall in love with an uncaring, idiotic pirate, but I decided it didn't care. I told myself to enjoy it while it lasted, face the painful consequences later. Now it's _later._ I don't know if you feel the same way I do, but it doesn't matter anymore anyway. It's too late.' I looked up, eyes brimming with tears. 'Just tell me though', I whispered, standing on the balls of my feet in a feeble attempt to match his height. '_Do_ you feel the same? Have I affected you in _any _way?'

He stared down at me, face unreadable, eyes blank. His next words hit me like a cannon ball.

'Are you done?'

I nodded blankly. He softly pushed me away from the door, unlocking it and dropping a little silver key into his pocket before closing the door behind him. As soon as it closed, I collapsed against it, sliding to the floor, tears falling freely now.

I hated crying, but I couldn't stop the tears streaming down my face now. I pressed my face into my skirt, trying to muffle the loud sobbing unsuccessfully, ignoring the hushed voices outside the door.

_The bright hair, beautiful eyes, the small smile. I reached towards him, temporarily forgetting my situation. I reached for his hand, lured in by the reassuring smile and bright brown eyes._

'_You can trust me', he said softly. 'I love you, after all'_

_That did it. I grasped his hand firmly, and he pulled me up, time freezing in place. He looped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer and burying his face in my neck. I hugged him back, closing my eye in bliss._

_Pain. Agonizing, blinding pain. Bright white lights behind my eye lids, tremors shooting through my body. My dark, blank eyes shot open as I jerked back, staring into now bloody crimson eyes, flames alighting within them and sending an almost freezing bolt of white hot fire down my spine, settling into the pit of my stomach._

'_Why?' my voice was faint, husky with pain. He grinned. He was now completely black and white, with piercing yellow eyes surrounded by black. A demon in my world. A demon that had come true._

_I had been betrayed by the last person I thought I could trust, the person I had given my love for._

_Kurosaki…Ichigo._

* * *

**gawd it was hard not to use my sexy strawberry's name all this chap DX**

**to break the depressing silence we are now in, i have a question: Does Tousen Kaname remind you of Michael Jackson? His arrancar outfit looks a bit like on of Mj's ones...**

**till next time, **

**-lazy llama please review! I'm hoping to reach 200 reviews by the end of this story! Pretty please? With a sexy strawberry on top? XD**


	20. Welcome to Shiba

**_I have been waiting for this part for AGES! It's quite dramatic XD_**

**_I am soooo sorry to kaien lovers in here! btw, i forgot to mention, Byakuya is now Rukia's brother, not father XD_**

* * *

I was hungry. Damn, was I hungry! Is it so hard to ask for at least some bread?

I could hear Hisagi and Kira shift their positions from outside my door. Gee, what were _they_ complaining about? They haven't spent hours with an eye twitch and bruises from the damn, rattling, hard chains which slipped over my two small wrists. Not small enough to slip out of them though. And they weren't' being given they could shoulder by absolutely every living creature on this stupid Fang ship. Even the mouse was avoiding me…

'Yo ho…' I sang to myself in a blank mutter, looking at the obscured window by my hammock. Everyone on deck was silent. My sword was gone, Inoue and her little blue knives were gone, along with her food, and Yuzu's axe was gone.

Yep, she has an axe, I forgot to mention. When I saw her carrying it over her shoulder so casually out the room, I almost fainted. It was four times bigger than her in every way, and was one of the few things my flyaway imagination couldn't imagine.

To put it simply, I'm hungry, angry, depressed, cold, tired, and every other unwanted emotion. Also, there was this not-so-charming new one called 'heartbreak', which I no longer take metaphorically…

I honestly (Maybe) don't blame Inoue and the others. It's not their fault they got stuck with a back-stabbing, heartless, clown-like carrot top captain instead of an equally heartless, a lot less good-looking captain with a beard and yellow teeth that at least looked old enough to be a pirate and wouldn't taunt their prey before ripping it all away, along with their heart.

Yes, my mood was very dark indeed.

I turned my head as I heard a slight squeak and saw a small tray of food being pushed through the clumsily made shove-stuff-in-here-and-hope-it-lands-right-way-up-or-else-Ichigo-will-kill-me-for-spilling-stuff-on-his-ship flap of wood. Woo, food!

I jumped off my hammock quietly, throwing the bread roll up in the air and skillfully catching it my mouth, twirling before falling gracefully on my knee, hands outspread. Did anyone see that? I guess not. No-one's here to watch anymore. To laugh, sneer, taunt, irritate, smile, and roll their amazing brown eyes at the childish display.

Where was that mouse? I needed to talk to _someone_. Isolation didn't fit well on me. I think I'm losing my mind, as a matter of fact. Turns out my mumbling questions and monologues had been going to my ruined Chappy picture next to my hammock. The very same picture that a certain strawberry had ruined by tipping me of my precarious perch, catching me swiftly after, wearing his usual scowl.

I sighed and stood up, chewing absently on the stale bread roll and for once wishing I had the palace chefs making delicious who-knows what, like they did everyday for fifteen years. Yuzu's cooking was just as delicious, but more…free, without any worries of unwanted fat or any other mundane concerns.

I gasped as loud voices, louder than I'd heard for days, interrupted the grim silence.

'I see it! We're here! Throw down the anchors!'

I stiffened, heart thumping. This was it. The moment I've been waiting for.

I moved back against the wall opposite from the door, cuffed hands held in front of me.

There were several murmuring voices and a loud, hoarse one, followed by several echoing footsteps and the clatter of swords against belts.

'Move aside, pirates', a pompous voice demanded. There was a small hesitation, then the sound of two sets of boots moving against wood. I watched the small doorknob, which was twisting agonizingly slowly. There was a small click, and the familiar creak of the door as it swung open. Revealing me to the first people other than the 13 refined pirates that I've seen in exactly four months.

Several soldiers rushed into the room, swords out and pointed at me. Yeesh, did they not know who I was?

'Come forward, girl', the owner of the pompous voice snapped, holding a sack in his hand. I nodded meekly, eyes wide with fear, and nervously stumbled forward into the waiting arms of two officers in blue. They gripped my upper arms, almost lifting me off the ground, and frog-marched me to the deck outside.

I blinked, unused to the sun, which was a lot stronger here. The crew of the Moon's Fang was lined up, eyes everywhere but on me. I gave them one quick glare.

'Traitors', I murmured. I said it in a low voice, but judging from a hidden sob, I guess they heard me.

As soon as we reached the platform down to the dock, I stopped. My escorters stopped also, looking at me quizzically. With a deep breath and small smirk, I stomped on one's foot, kicking the other so he can no longer father children and whipped out a keeling guard's slim sword, snapping apart my already broken cuffs.

I rushed over to the side and sliced one of the ropes connecting the platform to the ship. It tipped sideways, sending twenty or so guards toppling into the murky green water. Whirling around, I quickly fended off the remaining five guards on deck, either tipping them overboard or shoving them into a pole.

The assorted pirates stared at me dumfounded, unsure of what to do or where I had learnt all that from. Their eyes swiveled to their captain, who was at the steering wheel, face hard but eyes surprised. With a small sigh, he leapt over the staircase leading to the deck, stalking towards me lithely whilst unsheathing Zangetsu.

I forced the horrible ache in my heart to subside for now as I moved towards him as well. Our blades met in mid air, making a cross. If I wanted to escape I needed to get out, and fast.

I ducked and weaved under his sword thrusts, neither of us gaining advantage. With panicky frustration, I aimed a kick at him, which he dodged and caught, twisting so I was forced to turn my back to him. I swore in pain and anger, placing my free hand on the planks and shot my other leg up. It hit him hard on the shoulder, and he staggered back, releasing me.

With a blood lusting yell, I charged towards him, whirling around and stabbing. I gasped when I actually felt my sword pierce flesh.

Both our eyes were wide, staring at the quivering point, stuck firm into his lower stomach. Blood seeped through the white bandages underneath his black cloak, trickling down the sash of his hakama.

'No…' my whisper sounded almost dead. I looked up, eyes widening further when I saw the faint smile on his face. Why was he smiling? I just stabbed him!

He blinked once, hazy brown eyes snapping back to the cold shell as he leapt back from my sword, blood splattering through the air. I stood where I was frozen with shock.

'You little bitch', a voice growled from somewhere behind me. There was a pain in my head that sent a jolt down my spine, and the last thing I saw was Kurosaki's blank face, hand held over his stomach as he waved away a medic.

* * *

I jerked awake as something bumped me, and I looked up, eyes blurry, head hurting. The first thing I saw was a light brown. There was some sort of material scratching my sensitive skin, obscuring my vision and covering my whole head.

All I knew was that I was being carried. With a choked yelp, I began thrashing and squirming, which was hard due to the thick rope around my hands and feet. The man tightened his grip on me and shouted for help. I was eventually restrained by another four men.

After several futile efforts of escaping, I was finally dumped, rather unceremoniously, on a cold floor, where I struggled to get to my feet. Two hands appeared on my shoulders, keeping me down. The material covering my face was whipped off, making me wince.

'Ah, Kuchiki-san', said a vaguely familiar, warm voice. I looked up, eyes widening.

Sitting on a throne was none other than Aizen Sousuke. The king of Shiba. Kaien's father, Osore had mysteriously died a while ago, leaving the will to the throne to his brother, Sousuke, Kaien's uncle.

Next to him was a woman whose face was covered by a light blue fan, squinty eyes apparently staring at me. A dark-skinned man stood beside them, a strange mask over his eyes. He was mumbling 'justice' repeatedly.

'A-Aizen?' I asked, dumbfounded. On the few occasions I had met him, I had never like Aizen. I always found something fake, suspicious, behind his kind, fatherly smile.

He smiled. 'I trust your brother is well?' I nodded, still shocked and unable to say much else. 'Good, good'

'Oh, this is my wife, we were recently wed', he gestured at the woman beside him. She snapped the fan shut, revealing a fox-like face with a grin to big for it, violet hair shining. She had very heavy make up and a _very_ large bust which would make even Matsumoto Rangiku of Hitsugaya weep.

'Gin', the woman's voice was high-pitched and girly. 'Ichimaru Aizen Gin, please to meet ya, cutie', she winked and quickly curtsied, her bright blue dress rustling, before sitting on her throne once again, eyeing me intently.

'This is my bodyguard, Tousen', he gestured at the dreadlocked man next to him, who continued mumbling under his breath. There were several barks and the thud of paws, and I shrieked at the huge, bear-like dog that bolted past me and slid to a stop at Aizen's feet.

'And this is out dog, Sajin', he rubbed the grinning dog's ears, earning a lick to the face. Sajin did a three hundred and sixty degree head turn and growled at Tousen, who growled back.

'W…what…?' I was breathless, as if I had been running once again from my step-mother's dresses. Another warm smile from Aizen.

'Yes, you are in Shiba.' he confirmed, gesturing at the red uniformed guards around me.

The four kingdoms have a group of Royal Guards similar to each other, but uniquely- coloured. Kuchiki's Royal Guards wore purple. Hitsugaya teal, Ukitake white and Shiba a deep blood red.

Aizen sighed at my still bemused and alarmed face. 'Still don't understand? Let me put it simply', he leaned forward, fingers entwining. 'We have kidnapped you' The words I was afraid to even consider.

'Why?' I asked in a hushed voice, all thoughts of escape temporarily gone.

'Because', a wonderfully familiar, deep voice answered. 'There's no better way to start a war', Shiba Kaien, in the flesh, appeared from behind Aizen's throne, arms crossed, small smirk on his lips.

'K-Kaien…' I breathed in relief, familiar warmth flooding through me. I hear a scoff nearby and spun around, eyes widening once more. Kurosaki was here, alive, along with his ever-faithful crew. His brown eyes were shrewd, mouth set in a firm line.

He smiled. 'Yo, _Rukia-san_'

'Why are you here?' I asked, voice oddly distant. 'Aren't you meant to be in Kuchiki? Are you….Are you part of this madness?'

Kaien chuckled, a cold sound I'd never heard before. 'Wow, did you figure that out all by yourself, _princess?_' I'd never heard him sneer before either. 'Yes, I am part of this. In fact, it was originally my plan. I'm not called a prodigy for no reason, you know', he smiled a cruel smile.

I ignored the familiar prickling behind my eyes, staring at Kaien. I couldn't, wouldn't, believe that this is happening. This is the very first man I loved, suddenly explaining in a manner so different from the person I first met five months ago. Kaien smiled once more.

'Still don't believe me?' he frowned in mock thought. 'Well, how's this: _I never loved you_'

Ouch. I looked down to see if there actually was a shard of ice piercing my heart. Nope. Felt like it though. I felt something warm and wet on my cheeks and realized I was crying. I wiped them away vaguely, Kaien's words ringing in my ears. How many times could a human being have their heart torn apart? The way he said it so _casually,_ as if it was just a friendly chat between two friends, made it all the worse.

It was the same horrible feeling I had the day before, when I finally burst out my confession to Kurosaki, only to be coldly rejected.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kurosaki's hand twitch to his cursed sword. Why would he care what Kaien said to me? Why would he care about me at all?

Then I thought about what Kaien said, something about my kidnapping causing a war? That wouldn't happen. Brother and Nanao wouldn't submit to the war just for me. I don't want them to. The whole reason for the Kuchiki-Shiba wedding was to settle the almost combustible tension between us, which could easily turn into a blaze with the smallest breath of fire.

'N-Nii-sama won't submit to you', I was fiercely glad that my voice stayed strong, despite the river of tears flowing down my face. Aizen and Kaien smiled. Gin's sly smile seemed permanent.

'Oh but he will once we start it', Aizen assured me. 'We can put the blame on them for ruining the wedding that was to bring peace to two nations on the brink of war', Kaien snorted. 'We are _devastated _about the whole situation! In fact, we are so devastated we might have to send our whole navy fleet to destroy Kuchiki', my head snapped up, eyes wide.

Shiba had the largest Fleet out of all four kingdoms, compensating for its small country. Kuchiki's was the smallest; most soldiers on the vast stretch of land. One of the reasons my wedding was hastily moved up, to avoid temptations of an attack Kuchiki would seriously struggle with.

Neither my brother, the king or any of the nobles and generals could prepare for a surprise attack from Shiba's navy. Kuchiki would be destroyed. Annihilated. Without even the chance to prepare its forces.

I looked up at Aizen, the calculating monster seeping through the calm, warm facade I had known most of my life. How long had he been planning the cold destruction of my land? Kuchiki had tried making truce with Shiba after their long dispute, which Shiba had rejected but kept cold, reluctant peace.

'Our navy is preparing to sail now, as a matter of fact', a red-uniformed general with a bushy moustache nodded confirmation, unsmiling.

'No…' my defiance was almost inaudible. I hear a small, quickly stifled sob belonging to Yuzu, followed by a silent murmur from her damned brother.

Aizen turned his attention to Kurosaki. 'Ah, you have done well, Kurosaki-kun', he said briskly. 'You may go until I call you out for your next mission'

Kurosaki gave a short bow before turning to leave. Kaien grinned. 'Yes, goodbye, _Ichigo-kun'_'

'Shut up', Kurosaki snapped over his shoulder, jerking his head for his crew to follow. Kaien chuckled, amused.

'Do you know why I _hate_ you so, Rukia-chan?' Kaien asked me innocently. I looked up at him blankly. Kurosaki froze, turning slowly. Kaien smiled.

'You see…the one I _truly_ love…is my darling brother'

* * *

**_hehehe...please don't kill me? And he doesn't mean brotherly love..._**

**_phew, 2900 words! XD whoot! There's only a few chaps left before this ends! O-o Should i make a sequel? I'll put up a poll in mi profile. U can vote there! :)_**

**_Please review! I really want to get 20, as my goal for this story :) No flames for what i did to Kaien please! I feel bad enough! _**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	21. Hougyoku

**_Ok, i havent updaed ANYTHING in what feels like ages! DX Mi net CRASHED and i was internet-less for two weeks DX not mi fault! AND IM ON HOLIDAYS!!!!! XD no more school for two weeks! WHOOOOOOT!_**

**_lol im happy ^^ thank most of u for having the decency not to flame me bout last chapter ! ^^ and this is...4076 words which i spent two days writing, unhappy with how it was. _**

**_Enjoy!!! XD THANK U FOR OVER 200 REVIEWS! AND 23 FOR LAST CHAPTER! _**

* * *

I blinked as my vision swam. The next thing I knew, I was back on my knees with a small _thump_, Kaien's laughter and Kurosaki's furious hiss echoey and distant in my ears.

Truly…_loved_?

The throbbing pain in my head was pushed back, along with whatever other physical pain I was in. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for emotional pain…

'B-brothers?' I choked out. Kurosaki gave a disgusted sigh, Yuzu a small cry. Kaien chuckled.

'Ichigo, don't be so reluctant. The Shiba royals have _always_ married within the family, no reason we can't do the same', he winked at Kurosaki before turning to me.

'I don't suppose my _half-_brother has told you about his past or family, has he?' Kaien smiled. 'Or at least, not all of it'

'Yuzu and Ichigo were once part of this royal family. Kurosaki Isshin is our father, brother of my father, Osore, and my uncle, Aizen Sousuke. Osore died five years ago, because I was ill and unwilling to find a wife, Ichigo ended up next for the throne, at only ten years of age'

Kurosaki's already pale face had gone chalk white, though his expression remained indifferent. Yuzu had her hand placed over her mouth, small chest occasionally jumping with a suppressed sob. Kaien took no notice of their obvious discomfort and continued.

'The day before his mother, Masaki, and his father and other sister, Karin, had been murdered. When the Royal Advisors refused to do anything about their brutal murders, Ichigo refused to take up the throne. Yuzu was only about seven when, mad with sorrow and rage, murdered two of the advisors, and several of the royal guard. Both were immediately disowned from the throne, and were dismissed from the palace, where they soon after ended up in this profession'

'Aizen took up the role of king and recruited Ichigo and his faithful crew a few years later, using them for important missions and services. I myself have no immediate desire for the throne, and am content, for the most part', his eyes flickered wistfully over to Kurosaki before moving back to me. 'Well, Rukia-chan, are you satisfied with that explanation?'

During this whole time, Aizen remained unmoving, fingers still interlocked eyes shrewd and calculating. Gin hadn't moved much either, apart from the occasional flap of her fan. Tousen and Sajin were still growling at each other. Kurosaki was burning holes into the back of his crew's heads, which were facing the wall, whistling and humming innocently.

Aizen clapped his hands, bringing me back down to Seireitei. 'Well, Kuchiki-san, it has been a _tiring_ day for you, I'm sure, and I have urgent business to attend to', he chuckled. 'It's not an easy feat, organizing a fleet like mine', he sighed, brushing back a loose strand of brown hair, and strode down the steps of his throne, past me, and out the door.

I heard footsteps but didn't look up. A pair of black boots stopped in front of me, and the owner crouched down, gently tilting my head up. Kaien's smile was cold, hazel eyes sharp and no longer warm.

'Time for the midget to sleep', he announced brightly. He clicked his fingers and two guards immediately strode forward, pulling me roughly to my feet, where I hung limply, no longer able to support my own weight. This was too much for someone like me to handle. The only reason I wasn't bawling with confusion and pain was sheer, stubborn, never-ending willpower that I seemed to have inherited from my brother.

'I'm not a midget', I replied in a faint voice, and I could feel several pairs of eyes, one more familiar than the others, watching my progress out the golden sliding doors.

Now I really need my diary. Too bad it was hidden away under a floorboard on the _Moon's Fang_, away from prying eyes. And Kurosaki. If he read even the first page…

I felt a jolt of pain in my chest. If thinking about him and his painful past made the hollow ache inside me throb and brought a haze of black dots to my eyes. And Kaien…I still couldn't believe what he had said, and I don't want to. Kaien, my fiancé, the man I pledged my life and love to, is in love my enemy and other half.

Strange though it may sound, that's what I think mine and Kurosaki's no longer existent relationship was like. Two complete opposites, brought together by the most impossible, unimaginable circumstances. I never thought I could love someone like Kurosaki.

Then there was my newfound knowledge of Kurosaki and Yuzu's once upon a time royalty. That was also hard to believe, but explained a lot I guess. Yuzu's empathy to my situation, Kurosaki's obvious hatred of royalty. Yet he had still, if only for a short while, found himself as drawn to me as I was to him.

I jerked out of my thoughts as I was shoved forward, just managing to catch myself before I fell. I looked up, blinking rapidly through the hazy film covering my eyes.

I was facing cold grey bars. Bars similar to the ones I had in my palace. Bras that could only mean-

'Welcome to your new home, Kuchiki-san', Kaien announced as a burly guard stepped forward, fidgeting with a bunch of keys before finding he right one, slipping it into the gaping hole at the front and unlocking it.

'Struggling is pointless', Kaien whispered in my ear, reading my mind. 'You should just go quietly', he jerked his head to the guards, who bowed and walked off. Once they were gone, a light smirk adorned his young face. He nudged me into the cell and sat me on a cold bench, crouching next to me.

'In a few hours, Shiba's entire naval fleet will be within firing distance of Kuchiki', he whispered gleefully. 'They won't stand a chance!' helpless anger rose up inside me like boiling water, clouding my vision in a red haze.

'I don't suppose there is any point in telling you it's pointless to run away, or hope that my dear brother will come and save you', he continued in a low, taunting voice. 'I don't even know why we're keeping you alive, actually. It would've done to just kill you at our wedding', he sneered the words distastefully. 'But it seems Aizen likes these little games. What happens to you next is up to him, I guess.' He stood up, brushing off his pants.

'I need to check on Stark-taichou…I am going to ask if they can bring that bastard Kuchiki Byakuya's head back on a platter for m-'

_Smack!_

Kaien staggered back, hand clutching his face, where a red mark in the shape of my hand was making itself known on his high cheekbone. He turned back to stare at me in disbelief and fury, eyes narrowing.

I gasped in pain as he suddenly gripped my upper arm tightly enough to bruise, shoving me against the cold stone wall and looming over me, hazel eyes filled with cold fury.

'So', Kaien said dryly. '_You're_ the one my brother has supposedly given his cold heart to, eh? An infuriating little midget like you? I don't really envy his taste…'

I looked up at him, too angry to speak. His handsome features were twisted into an ugly grimace of anger. He smirked humourlessly, grip tightening on my arm. I aimed a kick at him but he dodged and smacked me against the wall, hard enough to make bits of rubble fall from above us. I looked up at him, dazed.

'Watch yourself, _princess_', he whispered menacingly, eyes glittering maliciously. With a final furious glare at me, he released me, shoving me roughly against the wall before slamming the iron door shut once more, his footsteps and the jingling piece of metal holding me in here growing steadily distant.

* * *

I felt strangely distant over the following day, not caring for the jeering cat calls coming from the cells surrounding me or the dry food slipped through the slim bars twice a day. No-one seemed to know who I was. The cells seemed abnormally full, most of the occupants looking confused and wide-eyed, some even with children.

Kuchiki would be destroyed by now. Before I could stop them, images of my family flashes through my mind, bloody and lifeless, grinning men in stained clothes of crimson standing over them, dark liquid dripping from the bright blades.

I cringed and squeezed my eyes shut, wrapping my arms around my knees and placing my head on them. I'd been trying to keep my mind busy, away from thoughts of a Kaien from a parallel universe, Kurosaki and my brother by remembering the horrid lessons I had to take in Kuchiki and recalling every detail, to no avail. Everything I thought of took me back to one of my three nightmares.

My mind had never been so _full_. There were so many thoughts running through my head, it felt like it was going to explode. Now I know why my uncle Shunsui takes Urahara Kisuke's illegal substances. While my brother warned (more like threatened) me to stay away from them, it would be nice to escape from the world's harsh reality, if just for a moment.

I suddenly felt angry. Maybe I could have prevented _any_ of this. My sister, Hisana, had died getting attacked by a madman, pushing me out of the way before getting impaled by the sword. What if I had been killed instead of Hisana? All of this could have been prevented. I wouldn't be here, my brother might still be smiling with Hisana, and Kuchiki would still exist.

'You can't blame yourself for everything, kid', a voice drawled from nearby. I looked up, and in front of me a woman wearing a very revealing red dress, one hand holding a smoking object on the end of a long black stick. Her face was in the shadows.

'Who are you?' I snapped. The woman chuckled.

'Every bit as impatient as expected', she said. With a sigh, she stepped out of the shadows, revealing a beautiful woman with spiky black hair half covered by a white bandana and soft, hazel-green eyes. I gasped. She snorted.

'Yeah, I get that a lot', she rolled her eyes. 'People stare at me and say 'Woah…you look a lot like Kaien-sama!' well, no kidding! Maybe that's 'cause I'm his sister?'

'Kaien's…sister?' I said in a small voice. I never knew he had any relatives.

'And I'm his brother!' a voice yelled from somewhere behind the Kaien-look alike. I jerked back as a…not very attractive man pressed his large face against the bars, tomato-like nose protruding. The woman's eye twitched.

'I'm Ganju!' he announced. 'This is my sister, Kuu-OUCH!' there was a loud bang as the woman slapped him across the face with her shoe. He flew back against the opposite wall, whimpering. The woman snorted and turned back to face me.

'Shiba Kuukaku', she jerked her thumb towards herself. 'That ugly lump of who-knows-what behind me is my other brother, Ganju. Unfortunately, he missed the good looks of our family'

'Aww, Nee-san', Ganju whined, jolting back up and rubbing his head, where a fresh lump was growing. 'You're mean!'

'You're ugly', Kuukaku shot back.

'Why are you here?' I asked them quietly, feeling nauseous. Kuukaku puffed out some smoke and crossed her arms, eyeing me critically.

'There's nothing to do 'round here', she replied with a yawn. 'We thought we'd come visit the Kuchiki rabbit in her little cage', she smirked.

'I'm not some animal to gawk at', I snapped. 'If that's all you're here for, go away'

'The little rabbit has teeth', Kuukaku said in mock surprise. Then she held out a hand, in which Ganju dropped a set of keys. 'Aizen wants to see you'

My heart skipped a beat. That couldn't mean anything good. 'Why?'

Kuukaku shrugged. 'You'll see', she slipped the key into the lock and the cage door swung open with a loud creak. The other prisoners were yelling suggestions at Kuukaku, mostly along the lines of letting them go.

As Kuukaku reached forward with the metal bracelets, I jerked to my feet and backed away into a corner, watching them warily. Kuukaku sighed again, her head temporarily covered by a cloud of smoke.

'Ganju and I specialize in weaponry. Do you really want to refuse us?' Kuukaku said, free hand moving to a lethal-looking sword at her waist, which hung on a belt filled with…I don't know what, but it looks painful.

'Why are they sending royalty to pick up a prisoner?' I muttered, looking away as the cold metal clamped down on my wrists once more. I was yanked to my feet and shoved out the door, Ganju holding the chain around my neck securely as he walked ahead, humming casually.

Kuukaku's grimaced. 'You ask too many questions'

Before long, we arrived in front of large, gold-lined sliding doors. At Kuukaku's barked command, they opened wide, revealing-

'_NOOOOOOOO!_'

Kuukaku and Ganju ignored my shriek and shoved me inside, grunting from the effort. I dug me heels in the ground, refusing to be dragged over there.

'Che!' Kuukaku said through gritted, smoking stick cracking. 'You Kuchikis are so damn annoying! No wonder you couldn't get along with Shiba!'

With help of several maids, I was finally sat down on the cushioned seat in front of the dressing table, where several, horribly familiar objects were waiting to turn my face into a mask.

'Now, _Kuchiki-sama', _Kuukaku grinned. 'This is only hard if you want it to be. You aren't gonna see Aizen looking like you just came out of a four-month voyage on a pirate ship. You have to look presentable, for what he's goin' to be showing you'

I sat where I was, fuming, for over an hour. By the time those "Beauty" demons were done, I looked like the same doll I used to be before I left Kuchiki. I forgot what it felt like to not breathe.

'Eh?' Kuukaku blinked. 'Even with makeup you're still ugly. Oh, well, can't be helped. Time to visit Aizen!' She and Ganju grabbed my arms again, struggling under the weight of my new outfit.

I numbly followed after them, vaguely wondering what would happen next, when we passed a room filled with voices.

'…What do you mean, It's still standing?'

'Aizen-sama commanded you to destroy it!'

'_Baka_!_'_

'You're_ fighting _them_?_'

I skidded to a stop, blinking out of the depressed daze I had been in for several days now. I tugged on the chain around my neck dragged Ganju with me over to the slightly ajar door the disbelieving voices were coming from.

'W-What are you talking about?' I croaked at a group of startled people, all holding ancient, black telephones. They stared at me dumbfounded, watching with wide eyes as I got yanked back by the chain around my neck.

'You _fool!_', Kuukaku growled at Ganju, whacking him over the head with her shoe again. He yelped and rubbed his red face, scowling.

'How was that my fault? They should learn to keep their voices down!' he snapped back, shrieking as Kuukaku threw several small, pointy objects at him, with embedded themselves in the wall where he was a second before.

Still grumbling, the two of them quickened their pace, Kuukaku pointing a very slim, sharp sword at my back, forcing me to keep at their pace. After several minutes, we arrived at another set of sliding doors. I knew this was his room. I could almost see the menacing aura surrounding the room. Also, the doors were much bigger and grander than the others, so it had to be his, Aizen's.

'You may enter', I shuddered at the words, wondering what he wanted with me. Kaien was right; he could've just had me killed at the wedding. It would've had the same result, and I wouldn't be in this shell filled only with guilt and sorrow.

Aizen was sitting on a mat on the floor, surrounded by flower petals which were being steadily dropped by two women on either side of him. A small bowl of sake and fruits were on the mat. His closed eyes opened, and he smiled at me warmly.

'Ah, thank you, Kuukaku-san, Ganju-kun', he said. 'You may go now', the two siblings bowed, Kuukaku rather stiffly, before leaving once more. Aizen turned and nodded to the maids. They too bowed and left.

I sat there, face stony, eyes narrowed. Aizen seemed to understand what I was thinking and his smile turned understanding.

'Rukia-san, there's no need to be so stiff, even under the current situation', he chuckled. 'You must be hungry', he lifted the fruit bowl and offered it to me. I glared in response, turning slightly pink when my stomach gave a sound similar to Yuzu's snores.

'You're no good to me dead, I'll tell you that much', he warned. 'Must I get Kuukaku-san back in here?'

Out of its own accord, my arm snaked out and grabbed an apple, which I took a deep bite into, relishing the sweetness. Aizen chuckled as I grabbed a nearby bread roll, ignoring the voice in my head that lectured me about the damn table manners.

'Kuchiki…hasn't…fallen yet, Aizen', I told him coldly between mouthfuls. I was pleased to see his face harden for a second before the smile returned, if a little forced.

'There have been some complications…which actually brings us to the reason you're here now', I winced as I swallowed a particularly large chunk of bread in shock.

'You've probably been wondering why you're still alive', his brown eyes reminded me of Kurosaki's, which didn't help my attempt to keep strong fort. He stood up suddenly, and I edged away from the table, grasping a butter knife in my hand. He strode past me, over to a large golden circle on the lush carpeting.

'You are the first I have told of this, Rukia-san', his voice was strangely cautious, as if he'd been keeping this secret for a while, and was afraid to part with it.

Aizen waved his hand over it, and I watched, wide-eyed, as it glowed, and a cylindrical shape rose from it soundlessly and fluidly. It was a smooth, golden contained of some sort. He placed his hand on the top, and with an odd breezy sound, it unraveled. As though being sliced, several pieces of the cold cylinder gracefully spiraled away from each other, revealing-

'The Hougyoku', Aizen whispered in what sounded like a loving voice, eyes glittering and unfocused. I could understand his expression. It was all I could do to not drool. The small, spherical object was shimmering, radiating a gentle silver glow. It looked as if it was made from smoke, or water. It seemed to be calling to me…

Without warning, Aizen gently but swiftly dropped the little sphere back into the cylinder. I blinked out of my haze. When Aizen turned back to me, he was smiling. Not the warm smile he had been smiling since I came into this room, but an anticipating smile full of wild happiness.

It made him look less human.

'You can feel it, can't you?' he whispered to me. 'Yes…I've picked the right person…'

'What are you talking about?' why was I whispering too? It seemed we were both hushed by the Hougyoku.

He straightened up, struggling to make his expression calm once more. When he did, he spoke. 'The Hougyoku is something I recently discovered, and I am quite sure it is the only one in existence. The man who created was foolish, very foolish, to throw it away like common garbage', again, his features turned warm as he gazed at the shimmering object in the cylinder.

'The Hougyoku is the power of creation. If the intentions are good, it can do everything from creating gold to making homes erupt from the very earth. It would require a sacrifice though. Everything this creates needs something of equivalent worth. To _create_ a large amount of gold, I need a sacrifice. A _human_ sacrifice', he lowered his head, dark shadows dancing across his handsome face.

'Human…sacrifice?' I whispered, eyes widening as I realized where he was going with this. I remembered the sad souls who were in the dungeon with me, realizing what they were going to be used for.

'I see you understand now, _Kuchiki'_, his smile turned slightly maniacal. 'Your life is the most important out of all the ones I require for this to work. The maker of this wonderful object left a note of how to use it, apparently thinking it would be found by someone of pure heart', he chuckled. And withdrew a slim roll of parchment form within his robes, and began reciting.

'_Dear Finder of this abomination _

_I can't find it within myself to destroy this, even though it could be used for great evil. I have left it to fate, or a feline friend of mine, to discard it, where it will hopefully remain undiscovered for years to come._

_If you are reading this though, you have found it. The Hougyoku. The power of creation._

_The Hougyoku requires a heavy sacrifice for everything it creates. By heavy sacrifice, I mean human._

_I hope you are of good heart and intention; else we are all in very deep animal droppings. If you are as I described, you will also hide this, or destroy it, as I am too cowardly to. Or if you have a more ambitious streak, you use it for the greater good (Creating longer-lasting fans, perhaps), such as banishing heavy criminals in order to create a fountain of gold to feed a hungry town._

_The price of actually activating the Hougyoku though, is slightly more difficult. _

_The creation was meant to only activate with my blood, thus making it near impossible for anyone other than me to use it. (This will be even _more_ difficult for you, idiotic user)_

_During the process, unfortunately, I mistook the phial of _my_ blood for none other than Master Kuchiki's, who was sending his to the history keepers. I am telling you this because it will be nigh impossible for you to grab hold of Master Kuchiki's blood, because he died last week._

_Also, his few blood relatives are growing thin, seeing as the bloodline is growing less and less pure with each passing generation. So good luck with that, Mr. Ambitious._

_I am not leaving my name, for I do not want to be chased down and hounded with questions or threats or insults._

_Goodbye, and may this never be seen again._

After a moment, Aizen looked back up at me. 'Are you alright, Rukia-san? You look pale'

Well I wonder why.

That was my great grandfather's blood that was added into the Hougyoku. As far as pure blood goes, my brother and I are the last remaining. And the man who called him "Master Kuchiki" was his royal adviser. And that Royal Advisor was-

'Rukia-san, I know you know what needs to be done now', Aizen said quietly. 'Your blood nor Kuchiki Byakuya's isn't as pure as your great grandfather's was, but we can compensate for that...'

A sword suddenly appeared out of nowhere, my own horrified face reflected on it. It gleamed as he twisted it in his hands, moving towards me with the look of predator cornering its prey.

'If you don't mind, we may need a _bit_ more than a phial of your blood, Rukia-san', a horrible grin broke out on his face, and in a flash he was above me, the beautiful katana clutched tightly in his hands. There was a gasp, a gleam of metal, and the horrible sound of metal slicing through skin.

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**_Whoo wat a bad cliffy! :S_**

**_Ok, there are approx. 3ish chaps left before i start on the sequel, which i now have a plan of! XD Im pretty happy with it, but it may be a few months till it gets started/published, depending on school...i alredy have mi half yearlys coming up DX_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-lazy llama- _**


	22. I'm sorry, Goodbye

**_WOW it's been ages since i've updated anything o-O sorry for leaving you all hanging! DX I'm almost finished my half yearlys, but have a whole shitload of stuff to finish for school =.= Year 10 SUUUUCKS._**

**_anyways, mi other fics are still on hiatus. I'm having a writer's block, caused by my mean bitch of a conscience. It's blocked off the door to my ADHD fueled imagination, so im starting another story. _**

**_You'll see what for at the end of this chapter ;)_**

**_3300 words just for you guys, cause i feel bad. i spent all day on it, so i hope you like it...:S_**

* * *

The pain I was expecting didn't come, but something warm and wet hit my cheek. I opened my eyes, which immediately widened.

'Ah…Kurosaki-kun, how nice of you to join us' Aizen's voice was eerily pleasant, as if he didn't just try to kill me.

A thin line of blood trickled out of his mouth, his eyes focused on me. Without taking his eyes off mine, he twisted around, grimacing the katana through his stomach shifted, and kicked at Aizen, who leapt back, sword and all, to avoid the blow.

Kurosaki gave a choked cough and fell to one knee, panting, crimson spreading across the front of his coat and hakama. He shot a quick glance at me, bronze-brown eyes no longer lifeless, but filled with determination and defiance.

'Che', he muttered. 'You're a damn magnet for disaster', he swayed back to his feet, both hands clenched tightly around the slim piece of black metal, knuckles turning white.

Aizen's chuckle was partly impatient, partly amused. 'How many times have you let yourself be harmed for the sake of that Kuchiki brat behind you, Kurosaki-san?'

'Shut up, bastard', the said strawberry growled. Aizen smiled, tilting his head to the side like a curious child.

'Interesting…I assume you overheard our little discussion?'

Kurosaki remained silent. Aizen's smile turned sickly as he examined the dark blood dripping from his beautiful sword.

'Yes…I wanted blood, but not yours, Kurosaki-san. Don't tell me you're giving up the chance for Yuzu-chan to get her parents back?'

Kurosaki visibly stiffened. I stared, wide-eyed. Aizen's eyes flickered to me.

'Sure, it requires a small sacrifice, but why would you care what happens to this girl's life, if it can bring back much more valuable ones? I do hope you are not intending to fight me in your current situation…you're bleeding out all over my Persian carpet!'

Silence again. Aizen smirked, then he flickered and vanished. Both mine and Kurosaki's eyes widened.

I gasped, but I couldn't even blink before Aizen's sword had made another wound on Kurosaki's shoulder. He lurched forward, beads of blood spinning through the air. With a small grunt of pain, he spun around and sliced Zangetsu through the air. Aizen's dark chuckle could be heard from somewhere behind me.

He grabbed me by the back of my dress, pulling me roughly to him and placing the cold blade against my throat. Kurosaki froze mid-stride.

'That speed…' Kurosaki breathed. I didn't dare look up, in case I decapitated myself, but Aizen's silent elation was almost tangible.

'Yes…my katana was made by none other than Soifon. Her blades possess an ability that is not present in any mere sword. She is practiced in Demon Arts, which she uses each time she makes a katana, which is very rare. She had a partner who disappeared some years ago. However, I have a suspicion she is close by…'

'Kyouka Suigetsu has the power of illusion. I would explain to you how it works, but there is no point telling a dead man, is there?' he slid the katana she slightest bit against my throat, and after a second's stinging pain, I felt a thin line of blood trickle down my neck. Kurosaki remained still, face stony. 'However, it would please me if you didn't take up blades against me, as I am still in need of your services, and this girl's life isn't worth your own'

Kurosaki narrowed his eyes. 'Let her go'

Another chuckle. 'I don't think so, Kurosaki-san. I _need_ the Hougyoku. And for it to work, I need this little Kuchiki here. Her blood is a lovely shade of red…shall we make more?' he slid the sword further across my throat, beads of blood bursting forth. I was afraid to breathe; else I make the slices even deeper.

'Bastard', Kurosaki hissed, before leaping at Aizen with a speed I've never seen before. Aizen met his blade with a blow of his own, tossing me away from him. He laughed sadistically, pushing Kurosaki back.

And then another form of Aizen shimmered several metres in front of me, sickly smile still in place. Kurosaki had taken stance protectively in front of me, blood dripping from his wounds.

He sliced through Aizen again, eyes widening as Zangetsu passed harmlessly through his torso and head.

Both of them leapt back, instantly clashing again, the sound of clashing metal ringing through the thick air.

Kurosaki spun around, but each time he stabbed Aizen, the man just gave a maddening chuckle and watched the black sword slice through his torso over and over again.

Aizen was winning. After a few seconds, Kurosaki would leap back, only to be met by Aizen once more, gaining yet another wound. Aizen seemed at ease, parrying all of Kurosaki's sword thrusts with slashes of his own.

And I was just sitting here, gawping like a fool. They were moving too fast for me to pinpoint their location. My head spun from the continuous flashes of black and magenta and the flying sparks.

A gasp slid past my parted lips as the flashes stopped, and Kurosaki fell to his knees, blood pouring from his torso. Zangetsu slipped from his grasp, landing with an unusually loud clatter on the wood. Aizen landed beside him, wiping the now crimson blade on his soiled robes, looking at Kurosaki with a grim expression.

'You have become a hindrance, Kurosaki-san', he announced. 'Kaien will be most displeased with me, but it cannot be avoided…'

To mine and Aizen's great surprise, Kurosaki chuckled.

'I was hoping to avoid using this, but I think it's about time…' Kurosaki looked up, blood-smeared face graced with a small smirk.

And then he vanished.

'What?' Aizen hissed. A split second later, he uttered a choked cough, leaping back and clutching his profusely bleeding shoulder.

'Tensa Zangetsu', Kurosaki said quietly. 'Its power, and mine, is speed'

Slashing his arm through the air, beads of dark blood flew from the tip as he disappeared again, reappearing above Aizen, who barely managed to raise his katana to meet Kurosaki's. The wood beneath his feet groaned and split. He dove aside, landing in a crouch.

Kurosaki was swaying slightly, free hand covering half his face. His eyes slid to mine, and I gasped.

_Pain. Agonizing, blinding pain. Bright white lights behind my eye lids, tremors shooting through my body. My dark, blank eyes shot open as I jerked back, staring into now bloody crimson eyes, flames alighting within them and sending an almost freezing bolt of white hot fire down my spine, settling into the pit of my stomach._

'_Why?' my voice was faint, husky with pain. He grinned. He was now completely black and white, with piercing yellow eyes surrounded by black. A demon in my world._

Yet again, my nightmare became reality. His eyes were now hawk-like yellow irises in the middle of inky blackness. Those unfamiliar eyes widened, and they flickered to chocolate brown and back, turning away from me. The hand dropped back by his side, and he vanished yet again.

Aizen was prepared: He not only dodged Kurosaki's attack, but managed to keep up with his astounding speed. After several painful minutes, they stopped, glaring at each other through the cross the two swords made.

'I find it hard to believe you threw away your life, your chance of having a family again, your chance of _royalty_, all for this Kuchiki bitch', Aizen hissed, his dark side slipping through the calm façade. 'Now I have no choice but to kill you'

His smile turned from forced to curious. 'It's amazing what a single emotion can do to one's life, isn't it? That particular emotion has been the destroyer of great humans since the dawn of time. It has conquered even you, Kurosaki Ichigo; the man who has no heart, in a matter is months! Do you know what it's called?'

'_Die_', Kurosaki hissed. I froze. Was it one person, or two people speaking?

Aizen let out a mad bark of laughter. 'Not before you and your darling little Kuchiki Rukia', There was a bright flash of light, which temporarily blinded me, followed by a ringing silence.

There was blood trickling out of Aizen's mouth and a wound in his shoulder, but he was still smiling. There was a continuous stream of blood dripping from Kurosaki's hand and head, his carrot-coloured hair stained crimson.

'Not yet?' Kurosaki murmured.

'So be it', Aizen whispered. He sliced Kyouka Suigetsu through the air beside him, and shimmered once again. Spinning around, both blades met yet again, sparks flying off.

Then the sliding door crashed open. Kurosaki snarled, digging his heels into the wood to avoid being thrown back by the force of Aizen's attack. The reflection of the new attacker flashed in front of his eyes, but he was otherwise occupied.

There was a clang, and three pairs of eyes widened.

'S-Stay…away…from him…_Kaien'_, I muttered through clenched teeth. I was vaguely aware of the sword clutched in my hand, met by Kaien's odd trident-like one. His surprised expression quickly changed into a grin.

'Well this is interesting', he whispered maliciously. 'But can you really kill me?' he leapt back, twirling his katana in the air above his head before slamming it down on the ground, the forked tip extending over his head.

'Nejibana', Kaien whispered. 'Shockwaves', with a quick twirl, he slammed the bottom on the wood. The floorboards erupted, sending me flying back with Kurosaki and Aizen.

Before I could land, Kaien struck again. My sword slid between the fork of the tip, momentarily halting its descent. Kaien's grin widened, and pushed. The force of it sent me back to the ground, landing heavily on the wood.

Before Nejibana could properly impale me, I rolled out of the way, flinging up the clumsy katana in defence. Kaien laughed, another shockwave throwing me up in the air. I landed on the wall in a crouch, pushing off as hard as I could and rushing back towards this devil of a man.

'So, Rukia-chan', Kaien said casually between blows. 'How does it feel to be the last Kuchiki?'

A cold weight settled in my stomach. 'Shut up'

'You're turning into my brother with that horrid language', Kaien grinned. 'You'll never be a substitute for him though', his green eyes flickered to the fight behind me. 'So kindly _die'_

With a furious sound I've never made before, I flipped up in the air, over Kaien's head and his trident-sword, slashing mine through the air clumsily.

I felt an agonizing stab of pain and saw one of the three spikes on Nejibana protruding from my thigh. I heard Kaien's laughter behind me.

'Did you really think you can beat me with that pathetic piece of metal?' he asked skeptically. 'Your brother would have been ashamed', I tore around with a wild cry, slashing at the man I thought I loved.

'You were having fun, weren't you?' he whispered, leaning down so he was level with my face. 'You like being on that ship. You liked being away from boring old royalty. You liked being_ free_'

'Go to hell!' I snapped at him, lunging forward. He laughed.

'I'm already there, Rukia-chan', he said grimly. 'And I'm taking you with me', he spun Nejibana over his head once more, bringing it down with a loud crash. I dove away from it as an electrical current raced through the floorboards towards me. To my horror, its new target became Kurosaki, who was staggering up from the ground.

'No', I gasped. 'Ichigo!'

He snapped around at the sound of his name, but too late. The bolt threw him up into the air, where Aizen appeared, Kyouka Suigetsu raised in preparation for the death blow.

'Aizen!' Kaien shouted, eyes on Kurosaki. 'What are you doing?! He's mine!'

'Sorry, Kaien-dono', Aizen called, bringing the sword down. Kaien and I both shouted in horror, but Aizen suddenly stopped, uttering a choked cry. Kurosaki used Zangetsu's power to escape, landing far from the three of us. Kaien and I gasped.

Kurosaki was holding the Hougyoku.

'Give it to me', Aizen hissed. 'Now'

'Come get it', Kurosaki snarled quietly, flinging it up in the air. Aizen dropped Suigetsu and dove for the rapidly descending Hougyoku.

'Aizen!' Kaien shouted. My eyes flickered back to him.

Everything went in slow motion.

The hand holding Nejibana was dropped, his free hand instinctively reaching for the Hougyoku. His left side was completely unprotected. Two swords whistled through the air. Two swords found their target.

_But can you really kill me?_

Kaien lurched forward, looking down in disbelief and pain at the battered sword protruding from his heart. Agonizingly slowly, his eyes traveled up to meet mine, wide with shock.

'Y-You…?' his voice was curious and disbelieving. His hand closed around the metal, pulling it out inch by inch. I watched him silently. He smiled and looked back up at me, this smile genuine and warm.

And then he went limp, collapsing to the ground with a muted thud. The two spikes embedded in my arm retreated, and I fell to my knees, katana falling with a clatter, tears pouring freely.

Silence.

A loud hiss of pain and a groan.

'No', Kurosaki growled, apparently to himself. 'Not now…'

He appeared next to me suddenly, lifting me up bridal style. My eyes were fixed on Kaien's motionless body. There was a flash of fallen magenta, and we were out the window. His landing barely jostled me, but it affected him.

His breathing was laboured, and it looked as if someone had thrown crimson paint all over him. I didn't want to look into his eyes, which I could feel boring into my head.

'Why…why?' was all I manage at the moment. 'Why did you save me?'

He didn't answer. He was running at his normal speed, black and yellow eyes glowing eerily in the night.

'What…happened…to you?', there was so much I wanted to ask, I was having trouble stringing two words together. '_What the hell is your problem?'_ my voice rose to a scream as all my frustration burst forth.

'You willingly hand me over to them, you ignore my confession, you show no emotion around me, you-you don't even seem to _care_, yet you dare to show up and save me from being slaughtered like a cow? I thought you said nothing I do affects you? Why are you here?! Why do you look like the monster from my dreams?! Why the hell did you save me?!_ ANSWER ME DAMMIT!_'

Kurosaki stopped abruptly. The next thing I new, I was being pinned to a tree, by both his hands and gaze, which was flickering from yellow to brown.

'You don't affect me?' he asked, voice changing in tune with his eyes. 'When have I ever said that? _Everything_ you do affects me. Why do you think I've been distancing myself from you? If I had let it go any further it would have been too late. I'm cursed. You're still innocent and pure.' his hands moved up to cup my cheeks. 'I refused to let a demon like me ruin that. And so I hated you. I despised your very presence because of what you did, and still do, to me. You, a spoilt, stubborn, irritating beyond belief _princess_ have managed to break through the shield guarding my heart and emotions as if it were nothing. I hated you because of that. You're like a demon summoned from my own personal hell to bring forth my demise. You could destroy me so easily if you wanted to. By all means, I should hate you, but I don't. Get it now?'

'I love you, Kuchiki Rukia'

And then he kissed me, eyes no longer yellow, but back to their normal brown. His lips were warm, and moving gently against mine. I didn't know when I responded, but next thing I knew my arms were around his neck, and he pulled me up several centimeters so that our heights were almost even. Not really, but who cares?

Suddenly he stopped, and he broke the kiss, lowering me back to the ground. he turned calmly, partly hiding me from view.

'You can come out now', he snapped towards the bushes. Ishida, Hisagi and Renji staggered out, all three of them showing signs of recent nosebleeds. Along with those three, I turned bright red. Kurosaki's face, slightly pink, was otherwise adorned by his usual scowl.

'We need to g-' Hisagi was cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

'I cannot permit you to leave', a low voice announced. There was the sound of several swords unsheathing. The five of us immediately reached for our pointy weapons, me coming up blank. I forgot that I had dropped it.

Kurosaki grabbed me, and I thought he was going to kiss me again, but instead, he threw me threw the air, were I landed on Ishida and Renji.

'Take her and go', he ordered them, slashing Zangetsu through the air, eyes fixed on the several Royal Guard present. Ishida knocked several blue-tipped arrows into his bow and fired them at four guards with expert skill.

Upon impact, the arrows didn't pierce their armour but threw them back several feet, were they either slammed into trees or skidded heavily across the ground.

'Let's go, Rukia-san', Renji said, looping an arm around my waist. I elbowed him in the gut, where he doubled over in pain, and prepared to run over to Kurosaki. No way was I leaving him here, half dead, to fight a bunch of Shiba guards.

Before I could move much further, a much smaller arrow of Ishida's struck me in the back of the neck. I staggered forwards, blinking as the scene swam before me.

'I am sorry, Kuchiki-san!' I was vaguely aware of Ishida's distorted voice.

'If you die…I'm going to kill you!' I shouted with the little strength I had left at Kurosaki. I saw him tilt his head and give me a small smirk before the cold yellow eyes returned.

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**_I hope i didn't make too many typos... i need a BETA reader =.= Winter has finally hit in Australia, and it's FREEZING. I can't feel my fingers, so i had to take extra care typing up this chapter :S_**

**_I am writing for dee gray man ( this site wont let me say the name =.=)_**

**_i have chapter 1 and 2 complete, and once 3 is finished, im gonna put it up! XD It's LaviXOC KandaXOC AllenXOC_**

**_watch dgm. It's better than bleach atm! (please dont kill me)_**

**_till next time (Which is hopefully soon!)_**

**_-lazy llama-_**


	23. Aftermath

**_THERE WILL BE A BITCH FIGHT_**

**_haha! that got your attention XD _****_This is a bit shorter than i intended, but it was necessary. I don't have a BETA reader for mi bleach fics, and i'm sick, so i may have mistyped some things due to diziness and everyday uncoordination XD_**

* * *

'Rukia-chan…wake up!'

'…'

'Dammit, Ishida what the hell do you put on your arrows?'

An indignant huff. Something poking my cheek. Repeatedly. Annoyingly.

'Ichi…go…'

'Aha! She said something!'

'…Did she say what I think she sai-?'

'Oh, what the hell'

_Smack!_

I yelped in pain and shot up, clutching my cheek. I swayed unsteadily, my world upside down. My eyes focused on a bright mane of orange hair.

'Hime-chan!' Yuzu's voice scolded.

'Hey, she's awake isn't she?' Inoue snapped. Each time I blinked, my vision got clearer. My eyes narrowed as they fixed on Inoue's silver-grey ones. She, along with Yuzu, was crouched in front of me.

'Finally, midget', she snorted, crossing her arms. I scowled. My foot shot out, and she let out a grunt as it made harsh and quick contact with her face, sending her toppling backwards onto her backside.

'I have been waiting…_so_ long…to do that', I breathed. Inoue sat up, clutching her red nose, and glowered at me.

'You are _so_ dead', she growled at me, sliding one of her daggers from her boots. I shifted to a crouch, reaching for my sword.

And coming up blank. _Again._

My memory rushed back, and I placed a hand to my lips. It wasn't a dream?

'Ichigo has a lot of questions to answer', Omaeda giggled. Yuzu's face darkened and she grew fangs. Whipping a broom out of nowhere she sprung up and whacked Omaeda over the head with it, spinning and crouching again in the same moment, gazing at me fondly.

'W-Where is he?' I muttered, struggling to my feet. At an excruciating pain in my thigh, I fell again, clutching it. The skirt of my blue dress had a gaping, crimson hole where Nejibana had torn through both material and skin. White bandages, already bloodstained, were wrapped around the wound. Same went for the twin puncture marks in my arm.

Kaien.

I slumped forward, tears streaming from my eyes. I really killed him.

'_Thank you'_

'For what?' I whispered. Yuzu frowned.

'Rukia…?' she asked tentatively. 'If you're worried about Ichii-nii, I'm sure he'll be-'

My eyes widened. 'How long have I been unconscious?'

Yuzu looked surprised. 'About half an hour I gue-'

'Why isn't he back yet?' I demanded.

'Oh I'm sure he's just bus-what are you doing?'

I staggered to my feet, leaning heavily on my left leg. I was on the _Moon's Fang_, which was looking out at the inky black forest. Night had settled, bringing a cool breeze which ghosted over to the treetops, forming long, sighing whispers.

I squinted. 'Someone hand me a lantern…'

I heard Yuzu's annoyed huff and heard her limping over to me, clutching my wrist firmly. I looked down at her.

'Let me go, Yuzu', I said quietly. She stared at me.

'No', she said in an equally low, angry tone. 'You're injured to the point you can't walk or hold a sword properly, and you'll only give my brother trouble. He _will_ be here soon, and he'll be happy to see us…especially you. You will wait here patiently, and you will let me properly treat your wounds, do you understand?'

I blinked down at her. 'Yes', the word slipped past my lips. She nodded and tugged on my uninjured wrist, pulling me away from the edge of the ship and to the kitchen, where some of the small crew had migrated to. The rest were waiting quietly at the edge of the boat, cannons and weapons at the ready.

Urahara, Keigo, Hisagi, Inoue and Ishida were seated there, sporting small wounds and bandages. On top of the bandages around her wrists, there was a large red mark in the shape of my foot on her nose. Urahara looked unscathed, his spread fan covering all but his shady eyes. Hanatarou was sitting there looking sheepish carrying a green medical bag.

'Quick thinking you got there, Flower bush', Hisagi said gruffly. 'I couldn't have survived another second with Pencil-man's arrow in my back'

The said archer narrowed his eyes, dropping the cloth-wrapped ice held to his head. 'If _you_ hadn't jumped in the way of the soldier you wouldn't be in here', he snapped. Hanatarou gave a small, nervous smile.

Hisagi leant forward, wincing and clutching his shoulder. 'That guy owed me money from some time ago. I wanted to ask him where it was, but _no_, you had to go all 'the last _Quincy_ saves the day'…or night, and shoot him _and_ me. What kind of name is Quincy anyway?'

Ishida pushed up his glasses, clutching his ever-present bow. 'The Quincy are a prestigious clan who-'

'-fight scum like _pirates_ and protect the good citizens', Hisagi snorted. 'What's that thing called when someone does something that's the opposite of what that someone says they're gonna do?'

'It's called irony, brute', Ishida said stiffly. Hisagi leapt to his feet.

'What'd you say?' he shouted, leaping over the table and tackling Ishida, who went down with a yelp and a flash of glasses. Yuzu and I ignored them and sat down. I stretched out my injured leg, which was throbbing like there was no tomorrow, and tapped my uninjured fingers on the table so fast they were a blur. Yuzu sat silently, hands clasped on the worn table in front of her.

The minutes ticked by, and so did my patience. I was extremely uncomfortable just _sitting, _but couldn't move much with my leg the way it was. After a few tense minutes, Yuzu moved over to me and checked the steadily darkening bandages wrapped tightly around my limbs. I hoped she wasn't planning on removing them any time soon. Especially seeing as the majority of occupants in the room were male, and I would probably be rolling around in pain. Why did Kaien have to stab me there of all places?

Kaien…

'Damn...' I murmured, hands tightening into a fist. I felt almost blank. I couldn't believe I killed him. I looked down at my hands, which no longer bore any of his blood. I shuddered at the recent memory of having the sword sink that deep into his flesh.

I had killed someone.

Not just anyone.

Someone I loved. Who didn't love me back, but loved the other contender to my feelings.

'Where is he, dammit?' I growled, running my fingers through my hair and slamming my other fist on the table. I winced as my bandaged hand throbbed.

'Rukia-san, please calm down', Yuzu said soothingly. Ok that was it. I leapt up from the table, ignoring the tremor of pain shooting up my leg, and slammed my fist down on it.

'No, I will not calm down', I shouted. 'Kuro… Ichigo is stuck in the middle of a bloody forest, half dead, in pitch blackness with a bunch of sociopath guards with pointy swords who will most certainly want revenge against him for killing Aizen and taking that stupid shiny ball. He's been used like one of my brother's pincushions. As soon as we…finished talking. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm just about to lose my mind, what with killing the first man I ever loved and then running from the spot in the arms of some sort of monster who then kissed me and had me knocked out. Some woman is making cursed swords and…and…' I slumped back in my chair, dropping my head against the table.

A hand patted my shoulder gently. Yuzu.

'He'll be fine', she murmured. 'He wouldn't let a couple of flesh wounds and creepy guards get in the way of seeing you again'

Dammit. More tears.

Yuzu sat down beside me, small arms wrapped around my shoulders. Hisagi and Ishida had moved their scuffle outside, Hanatarou asking them to stop or else their wounds would get worse. Inoue was glowering at me. I could care less. Keigo and Urahara had joined the rooting outside and were betting on who would win.

'Do you know…why I hate you, Kuchiki?' Inoue drawled out of the blue. I looked over at her blankly. She grimaced. Yuzu stared, eyes wide.

'Finally, a reason', I muttered sarcastically. Inoue scowled before sighing.

'I love him', she whispered slowly and painfully. I stared at her for several seconds, uncomprehending.

'Excuse me?' I asked with a little shake of the head. Her face went abruptly blank.

'I love him…and it hurts', she whispered, orange hair falling to cover her eyes. My hands clutched at the cyan fabric of my blood-stained skirt as I stared at her with wide eyes.

'You understand why I near despise you now, right?' her voice rose. She stalked towards me ever so slowly. 'You've won his black heart in little over four months. You brought to surface emotions that none of us could imagine in the same sentence as his name. You got him to look at you like I wanted him to look at _me_ with little effort. You got him to give up his position as reinstated prince and rid him the chance of a proper family _again_. You got him to risk his life for someone else. _You got him to love you!' _she shouted. 'Something I've been trying to do for _years!_ I regret your very existence_'_

'You think I asked for any of this to happen?' I yelled back, ignoring the stab of pain as I stood. I was furious. And my stubborn side was kicking in, taking over my mind and mouth. 'I didn't want any of the things you just said. But they happened anyway, didn't they? He doesn't love you as anything more than a _friend._ You could've accepted that long ago, but no, your feelings came first, and you made his life a living hell with your bitterness and envy. _You_ couldn't imagine those feelings and him in the same sentence because you didn't want to. Not unless they involved you. I didn't ask for him to risk everything for me, and I still don't. But he risked it anyway, and he did it because…because he loves me', saying that made my heart skip a beat. I looked straight into her fiery grey eyes. 'And I love him too'

Yuzu fainted.

There was a whole minute, or several, were Inoue and I just stood and stared. 'Despite everything you've said, you care for him. Because of that, you don't want to see him in pain, and you came after me regardless', we were both surprised by the softness of my voice and my small smile as my eyes flickered to her bandaged arms. I held out my uninjured hand. She stared at it like it was diseased.

'Well…I am not that much of a heartless witch', she smiled humourlessly. 'I was very opposed to the idea though. In fact, I was the only one opposed to the 'Save the annoying midget' plan Ichigo conjured up. The stare he gave me…well, all these idiots took off after you, holding off the guards while he looked for you', she grasped my outstretched hand. I stifled a wince as her grip on it tightened, but didn't break out stare/glare.

'And…you're right', it took her ten whole seconds to chew that out. 'About everything. I don't know where you learnt to be so analytical, but you're right. And because of that, I will no longer attempt to get in your way or Ichigo's. My feelings for him haven't changed, and I still hate y-'

'Oi!' Akira's voice shouted. 'I see something! I think it's the captain!'

Inoue and I lunged for the door, getting stuck along the way. After much bickering and shoving, we staggered through and dove on top of Akira in an effort to grab the long, slim periscope that flew in the air when we tackled him.

I got it first and crammed it into my eye socket.

The first thing I saw was the bright, spiky orange hair that shone like a beacon in the night. My face split into a smile of relief, which quickly vanished when I took in the rest his appearance. His orange hair was smeared with crimson, and he was dragging his black katana along the ground, the other hand clutching his side. He was limping.

Inoue snatched the instrument from me and jammed it into her own eye, both of them widening. 'Idiot. He got himself stabbed by those pathetic guards?'

'Most of that was from Aizen', I snapped. 'Those guards wouldn't have been able to lay a finger on him…'

Inoue snorted. 'Getting defensive, aren't we? He looks like he's about to faint'

'It's just a flesh wound'

'Wanna bet, Bean Sprout?'

'Did you just call me a _vegetable_?'

'So what if I did?'

'Oh, well I guess that makes you a turnip!'

'What'd you say, Bean Sprout?'

'Stop calling me bean sprout, Turnip!'

Omaeda stepped forward, grinning gleefully. 'Unless you're arguing over who wants me more, you should stop so we can go help Kurosa-'

'Shut up, Eggplant!' Inoue and I shouted at the same time. Omaeda recoiled, bristling with indignant fury.

'Why did I get dragged into the vegetable fight?' he whined. An eggplant hit him on the side of the head and he spun around furiously, piggy eyes fixing on Kira. Before the blonde man could do more than whimper, Omaeda did his belly flop of doom and crushed him.

In the blink of an eye, the ten of us, excluding Chad, were in a brawl. Inoue and I were rolling around, mindless of wounds, wringing each other's neck.

'Pirate pile!' Akira and Keigo had somehow managed to climb the mast, and were hanging from the ropes there. With that whooping war cry, they jumped. Into the said pirate pile.

'What the hell are you all doing?' a wonderfully familiar voice growled. I looked up from banging Inoue's head on the floorboards, mind going blank.

Ichigo was leaning against the wooden railing, Zangetsu clutched in his hand. He glowered down at the pile of pirates.

'Ichi-gah!' Inoue's hands continued their wringing of my neck, disabling my speech.

A hand picked my up by the low collar of my blue dress, Inoue's hands still around my neck. We both gaped, me choking, at Chad, who was staring ahead emotionlessly. He had dismembered the pirate piles, who were now in similar positions they had been the day after the party.

I gasped at the sudden abundance of air as Inoue let go, dropping lightly to her feet and glowering at Ichigo. I was put back on my feet to. There was a silence in which I stared at Ichigo, liquid brown eyes boring into mine without any particular emotion.

My eyes flickered to the floorboards, and with my good leg, I stomped down on a battered one, darker than the others. It flew up and hit the strawberry right between the legs.

His eyes and mouth widened and he dropped Zangetsu, falling to one knee. I gave a wry smirk. It was the very floorboard he used to disarm me on our first training session. I limped over to him, crossing my arms.

He straightened up, slightly hunched, and stared at me. More silence, then-

'Mind if I join your crew, Handsome?'

* * *

**_A strawberry cookie if u guess the visitor correctly :) _**

**_TWO D GRAY MAN STORIES PUBLISHED! XD and if i say so myself, Beware of the fangs is the funniest story i have ever written ;3_**

**_till next time, _**

**_-Lazy Llama-was the Rukia/hoebag Inoue bit good? Please tell me! :S_**


	24. Good Tidings

----

Several pairs of eyes swiveled over to the source of the voice. Several sets of jaws dropped.

Ichimaru Gin was spread out on the ship's mahogany railing, fanning herself, slanted eyes appearing closed.

'I-I-I-Ichimaru!', Omaeda burst out, pointing an accusatory finger at the woman. She appeared unfazed. Inoue snorted.

'Point out the obvious, Eggplant', she growled, flicking out her daggers. The crew mirrored her movements. Ichimaru sat up and snapped the powder-blue fan shut, eyes opening to reveal scarlet slits.

'Ya can put them pointy things down, girls', Ichimaru purred. The males on the ship scowled, and so did Inoue. 'I ain't gonna attack ya'll or eat ya'

Ichigo remained unfazed. 'Who are you?'

Renji rounded on him. 'Are you an idiot? Wait, don't answer that'

Ichigo scowled. 'I asked you who you were'

'Well, well, you'll never get lucky with the ladies if you're so fast', Ichimaru giggled. She stopped abruptly and ran slim fingers through her hair.

With a small _pop!_, the long violet hair came off, revealing short, equally purple hair. Omaeda fainted, landing on top of an unprepared Kira.

'My name', my eyes widened as much as my jaw. 'Is Ichimaru Gin. I am a spy for Kuchiki Byakuya, and I have been living in Shiba for the past nine months'

Her, no, _his_ voice was no longer shrill and feminine, but rather high-pitched and sarcastic. Even Ichigo's eyes were wide.

'W-What…?', Keigo whimpered. 'Y-you're…male?'

'Yep', Gin nodded.

'But why are you wearing a dress?', Omaeda grunted, standing up again.

'Well, I was given the choice of a Royal Adviser or Aizen's new wife', Gin explained. 'And I prefer corsets and wearing masks of paint every day as opposed to fine robes and alcohol'

_Crash!_

Omaeda fainted again.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. 'You're killing my crew'

Gin rolled his slitted eyes. 'Idiot. I was being _sarcastic_'. There were several murmurs of relief.

'So…you're on our side?', I asked. Gin nodded brightly.

'Kuchiki ain't destroyed, by tha way, princess', Gin told me casually. I blinked. To be honest, I had forgotten about Kuchiki. But now a huge weight had been lifted off my chest and shoulders. I smiled shakily in relief and gratitude.

'They're alive n' kickin'', Gin continued. 'I've bin in contact with Byakuya, 'nd I've told him 'bout ya. He says he's relieved t' know tha' yer safe n' blah blah blah…', Gin rolled his eyes again.

'Is Aizen dead?', Hisagi called out.

'Well, he's bleedin' a lot', Gin mused. His grin widened. 'Ya should've seen his face when I lifted up my dress and jumped out the window.'

'That's enough to kill anybody', Inoue muttered.

'…So….', Akira broke the silence. 'What now?'

'Now we go to Kuchiki', Ichigo said. When no one moved, he frowned. 'Move!', he barked. The pirates on deck scattered into all directions.

'Why are we going back to Kuchiki?', I asked stupidly.

Ichigo's eyes locked onto mine. 'Why else? We're returning you', and he walked off.

----

'Rukia-chan…why aren't you eating?', Yuzu scolded me.

'I'm not hungry', I mumbled back. She scowled and poked at my ribs.

'You're skin and bone!', she insisted. '_Eat._'

I cringed under the force of her stare and grabbed a bread roll, tearing off a chunk. She smiled, giving me a strange look, and walked off.

I sighed and reached for the little plate of butter. Inoue grabbed it at the same time as me. We both narrowed our eyes.

'Let it go', we both hissed. We scowled.

'No way, Bean Sprout', she snorted. 'I got it first'

'No you didn't, Turnip!', I retorted, tugging on the plate. Inoue held fast.

'Let it go _now'_

'I grabbed it first!'

Inoue rolled her eyes and grabbed a bread roll with her free hand, flinging it at me. It bounced off my head. My jaw dropped.

'Did you just hit me with a bread roll?', I asked her, eyes slitted.

'Maybe I did', she snarled. 'What you gonna do about it, Sprout?'

I growled and picked up a carrot. She narrowly dodged the orange missile and turned back to face me triumphantly. 'Ha-gah!', another carrot landed right in her mouth. She choked and spat it out. I took my chance and yanked the butter plate towards me.

'No you don't', she grumbled, standing up. I stood up too. The butter plat remained suspended between us. All was silent. Fights between Inoue and I were the only fights everyone stopped for.

We glared over the butter plate, both of us waiting for the other to make the first move.

'Thanks', Ichigo muttered, yanking the butter plate from between mine and Inoue's death grips. He walked back down to the head of the table, sitting down as if nothing happened.

Inoue and I stared at him.

'What the hell, Carrot?', we both shouted. 'You stole our butter!'

Ichigo didn't look up, but chewed his newly buttered bread thoughtfully. 'If you two don't shut up, I'm going to throw you both overboard'

I huffed and plunked back down, resting my chin on my hand. My gaze shifted over to Ichigo. He was staring down at his plate. I frowned.

He hasn't said a word directly to me since yesterday. Yesterday, when he rescued me from Aizen's clutches and confessed out of the blue.

Soon after, he stood up and left. I slipped out of my seat and followed him, intent on interrogating him. Everyone else was still inside. Ichigo had his elbows on the ship railing, leaning on one leg. He was twirling the small and strangely beautiful Hougyoku in his fingers.

'You actually took it?', I said by way of introducing myself.

'This small thing is the reason two kingdoms are in turmoil', he murmured, looking out at the sea. 'The genius who created it probably has no idea what he's done', he chuckled without humour. I bit my lip. I was the only one who knew…

'You're avoiding me again,' that was _not_ what I was meant to say. He remained silent. 'Why?'

'Why else, Kuchiki?,' he muttered. I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't like him using my name like that. 'That's exactly why'

I frowned. 'What does my name have to do with anything?'

He turned his head to stare at me with hard eyes. 'Kuchiki. _Kuchiki Rukia._ You are a princess. Why else do you think we are going back? I sure as hell don't want to see your brother again', he grimaced slightly. 'You belong there. You should be sitting in your etiquette lessons now, learning how to take care of your future husband and children. But instead you're here, on a pirate ship, with a bunch of river rats', he finished bitterly.

'My marriage to Kaien was fake', I murmured, finally walking over to him. 'I don't care about my standing in society', I took a deep breath. 'I am staying here', his eyes snapped to meet mine, wide with shock. I scowled. Then I whacked him over the head.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?', he growled, rubbing the back of his head.

'Did you really think I would just _go?'_, I demanded. 'After everything that has happened over the past few months, I am not going back to Kuchiki. Not permanently anyway. I will visit my brother, and then we will run. Very fast'

Ichigo's face was still frozen on _gaping fish_.

'I told you I loved you', I told him. 'And you said it, even if you were a little late. This is the most _fun_ I have had in my life. I've never felt so _alive_', I raised my arm again. His arm intercepted the blow, so I kicked him in the shin. 'And you think I would walk away from all of this and go back to being a royal doll? Idiot!'

'I'm not sure I want to spend the rest of my life with an annoying midget like you', I growled and charged at him. He lazily placed a hand on my head to keep me in place. 'But since you will give me no other option, I guess I should give you a warm welcome', he removed the hand and lifted me up to kiss me. My anger evaporated, and I could feel my cheeks grow warm under his even warmer hands.

He finally broke the kiss and stared straight into my eyes, which were now drooping. His were a darkened shade of chocolate.

'Good luck explaining this to your brother'

----

I woke up the next morning, Ichigo's bare arms keeping me to his chest. I smiled and buried my face in his neck, content to sleep forever.

'My, my, aren't you two a cute li'l couple', Ichimaru Gin's voice sang. I shrieked and sat up, smacking Ichigo in the nose on my way. He groaned and rolled onto his back, clutching his nose. His eyes narrowed when he saw Gin.

'Aww, I've woken up the love birds', Gin crooned. I turned bright red. 'Yer sister sent me t' tell ya we'll be at Kuchiki soon', he turned to me, creepy grin widening. 'Good luck telling' yer brother 'bout this'

I smiled tightly and gave a "what can you do?" gesture with my hands. Gin giggled and walked away. I sighed.

'He scares me', I admitted. Ichigo shrugged and stood, running a hand through his hair. Still not used to seeing half-naked men with well-built bodies, I turned away, observing the clutter on his desk and shelves.

We emerged from his room. The first thing I saw was Inoue, scowling as usual. She eyes my tousled appearance critically.

'Yes, Turnip?', I inquired politely.

She snorted. 'Nothing, Bean Sprout', she turned ponytail and stalked off. I saw Urahara sitting cross-legged on the rail near the bow of the ship, the waves not jostling him a bit. Yoruichi sat beside him, tail flicking in the air, purring contentedly as Urahara stroked her back. I gasped as I remembered what I was meant to tell Ichigo yesterday.

'We need to talk to Urahara', I told him, running off the merchant. I heard Ichigo grumble something in reply.

'Ah, young Rukia-sama', Urahara greeted brightly. 'What can I do for you on this fine day?'

'It's just Rukia', I automatically reminded him. 'And I need to talk to you about something'

He snapped the fan he was waving shut and leaned forward. 'Yes?'

I crouched down beside him, also leaning in. 'You created the Hougyoku, didn't you?'

Urahara yelped and dropped the fan, arms flailing, sense of balance thrown to the winds. He toppled back, off the ship. I gasped and leaned over, looking for the foamy ripples that were sure to appear.

'I'm here Rukia-chan!', Urahara called in a pained voice. My gaze shifted to the source of his voice. I sighed in relief.

He was straddling one of the cannons poking out of the ship's portholes. His face was set and white, and his lips were pursed in pain. One of his hands was holding his hat in place.

'What happened?', Ichigo peered over the side, breaking into a rare small smile. 'What did you say to him?'

'I asked him about the Hougyoku', I replied, grabbing a thick pile of rope from the deck. He came to help me, lifting it and throwing it overboard, eyes on me.

'What?, he said sharply. 'Why are you asking him about that?'

'Good question, Kurosaki-san', I jumped as Urahara suddenly appeared right next to me. I looked overboard, where the rope was dangling limply.

'How did you get here?', I whispered.

'If you're going to be living here, get used to it', Kurosaki muttered. 'He does this all the time'

Urahara scuttled back over to his previous perch, smiling at the glaring Yoruichi. He started stroking her again, and she placed her head back on her paws, purring.

'What do you have to do with the Hougyoku?', Ichigo demanded. Urahara's fan snapped back open and he fanned himself, sighing.

'Before Yoruichi-san and I set fire to Aizen's palace', Urahara said slowly. 'We found something we never thought we'd see again', he reached inside his green sleeve and pulled out a neatly tied scroll. I gasped.

'Read it, Kurosaki-san', he said quietly, all signs of his pervious humour gone. Kurosaki snatched it, unrolling it and reading. Yoruichi was sitting up now, amber eyes fixed on Kurosaki.

He finished ad he lowered the scroll, gaze locked on Urahara. He laughed nervously.

'I don't like the look of that gla-ach!', his sentence was cut off as Kurosaki's hand snapped around his neck. His face turned red and he batted at the hand unsuccessfully.

'Ichigo!', I shouted. 'Let him go! We still need to question him!'

'Hold your anger, Ichigo', a rough voice growled. I looked around. 'Down here, small one', I looked down. It was Yoruichi that spoke.

'What did you just ca-?'

'Ifyouwantmetoexplainletgoplease', Urahara gasped through Ichigo's chokehold. He squealed as the hand tightened.

_Bang!_

I jumped yet again as Yoruichi disappeared in a cloud of violet smoke.

'Oh, Ichigo?', a strong, female voice crooned from where she was. Ichigo's eyes flickered to her. A second later, he yelped and slapped his hands over his eyes.

'Yoruichi!', he snarled. 'Stop doing that?'

Urahara was smiling, two small rivulets of blood trickling down both nostrils. 'I never get used to that, even though I've know her for over one hundred and fifty years now', he said happily. 'Neither does Kurosaki-san!'

'Shut up!', Ichigo snapped, remerging. He wiped off the small smear of blood above his mouth, pink face turning normal again. He was scowling now, deliberately avoiding the still naked Yoruichi.

'So', he growled. 'All of this is _your_ fault?'

Urahara's smirk vanished. He looked solemn. 'I had no idea what the consequences of the Hougyoku would be, that is why I got rid of it', he mumbled. 'I especially did not expect that Rukia-chan would be affected by this!'

'How do you destroy it', Ichigo asked curtly. Urahara bit his lip. 'You invented it. You better have a way of destroying it'

'The destroying part…I do not know that bit', he sighed. 'My old…_partner_ did'

'Partner?', I raised an eyebrow. 'You had help making this?'

'Yes', his eyes narrowed slightly. 'I truly regret bringing him into this project'

'He knows how to destroy it?', Ichigo asked. 'Who is it?'

A dangerous look passed over Urahara's face. Yoruichi frowned, legs crossed.

'Kurotsuchi Mayuri', he whispered.

My world turned black and white, and my vision flickered.

'_Nee-san!', I grinned a gap-toothed grin, stumbling up to my older sister. Byakuya was by her side, smiling warmly. The sun shined down on us, despite the leafy canopy above us. The lush, bright green grass around us swayed in the slight breeze. The crystal-like pool rippled as the wind blew._

_She bent down and ruffled my hair, chuckling._

'_You promised we'd go horse riding', I pouted. Hisana smiled, brushing aside the two locks of hair on her face._

'_Maybe later, if we get the cha-', Hisana gasped suddenly, and her eyes widened. She pushed me away from her, sending me sprawling._

_There was a horrible slicing sound, and something warm hit my face. I looked up, eyes wide._

_A thickset man with a black and white face had plunged a rusted sword through my sister's heart. She was gazing down at it, eyes blank, lips parted. Crimson blossomed over the white yukata she wore, and some of it trickled down her face and neck._

_The man relinquished his grip on the sword, teeth bared in mad fury. His tongue darted out of his mouth and tasted the bead of blood there. He grinned horribly, golden eyes wide._

'_Kuchiki-sama!', the purple-coated guards roared and shoved the man away from Hisana, pushing him to the ground while others rushed forward. My step-brother stood where he was, frozen with shock. His rich magenta kimono was stained red with his wife's blood._

'_B-Byakuya…', Hisana murmured, fingers twitching on the ground. Byakuya collapsed beside her, clutching her hand. 'Take…care…of…Rukia…', her eyes flickered to me and she smiled faintly. _

_Then her eyes turned glassy and the smile faded. Those eyes were still fixed on me, no longer twinkling like the night sky, but a frozen cobalt._

_Byakuya's scream split the shocked and silent air as he mourned, still clutching my sister's hand. _

'Kurotsuchi Mayuri', I repeated in a faint voice. 'The madman who killed my sister'

Urahara nodded. Ichigo's eyes widened.

'You were young when that happened', Urahara sighed. 'But that kind of memory remains embedded in the mind forever'

'You had _him_ as your partner?', I hadn't been angry up till now. My voice was shaking. Urahara sensed the danger and spoke hastily.

'I got rid of him halfway through the project', he said quickly. 'He was an absolute genius, but completely and utterly _insane._ I saw how he looked at humans, how he saw them as mere specimens, despite the fact he was one of them'

'Was?', Ichigo said sharply. 'He's dead?'

Urahara shook his head grimly. 'Whatever humanity he had, it is no more'

Ichigo's frown deepened.

'But he was there long enough to learn how it can be destroyed?', I muttered. Horrible memories were rushing through my mind, and I couldn't stop them. My vision swam again and I swayed. Ichigo's arms kept my shoulders steady, and he steered me over to a nearby barrel. He looked over at Urahara while I waited for my nausea to pass.

'Where is this bastard?', Ichigo growled. 'After we get the information we need, I am going to chop off his head'

'Not likely', Yoruichi spoke for the second time. 'That man is near impossible to find, and he as elusive as Kisuke when you touch his hat', Urahara shot a small glare at her.

'So what do we do?' I murmured. I felt better now. I could breathe without wanting to throw up.

Yoruichi tapped her fingers on the wooden railing. Ichigo was still not looking at her. Urahara seemed unfazed.

'After we visit Byakuya', her eyes flashed and she grinned. 'We need to find Soifon', Urahara's smile vanished again.

'Soifon?', he yelped. 'No! Why her? She _hates_ me and I-!'

'-Hate her too', Yoruichi rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I know, Kisuke. But if this girl's going to join us, she needs a sword', she flashed a bright smile, which contrasted with her golden skin.

Urahara snorted. 'Do you really think _that_ will make one for her?'

'Don't call her _that_', Yoruichi smacked him over the head. 'And if _I_ talk to her, she will'

Another snort. 'She is smitten with you, Yoruichi-san. But asking her to make Rukia-chan a sword is like asking her to kiss me: _Never in another two hundred years!_'

Yoruichi looked bored. 'Yes, well, I've been watching her fight. None of the swords are right for her. She needs one made by Soifon'

'Why can't you make it?', Urahara whined. Yoruichi slid a sideways glare at him.

'You _know_ why, Kisuke', she growled. Just then, the kitchen door slammed open.

'Oh damn', Ichigo and Urahara muttered.

'Ugh!', I slapped a hand over my mouth. 'No blood!', I hated the smell of blood. It makes me nauseous.

'Y…Yoruichi…is…na-gah!' I closed my eyes as there were several spurts of what had to be blood.

'Fools', Ichigo barked at them. 'You've seen this before! It's nothing new!'

'_That_ is!', Hisagi whimpered, pointing. Renji slapped his hand down with his free one. The other was holding his nose.

'I…I can see Kuchiki!', Akira's voice shouted excitedly. 'Ayami…', he murmured his sister's name happily.

'I whirled around, slipping off my barrel with a grunt. I staggered over to the railing. Sure enough, I could see the mass of land that was my kingdom.

I had mixed feelings about going back. Relief that it was still there, disappointment and something _hollow_ at the idea of returning to my old lifestyle. Joy at seeing my brother and even Nanao again. Hisako and Ayami, my maids.

Yoruichi looked at me. 'Good luck telling Byakuya'

'I know, already!'

----


	25. Chapter 25

_Hey guys, this notice is going on all of my stores._

_Firstly, i'm sorry for not updating anything in months. Lots of stuff has been happening, and i'm losing my creative flow. Also, like i've said before, i've uploaded too many unfinished stories and i'm feeling the pressure =\ Anyhoo, i'm gonna delete most of the stories on this account and keep only about 3. The rest may or may not be rewritten/retitled, depending on my mood._

_There's a poll up in my profile. vote for up to 3 stories, and the ones with the most votes won't get deleted, but may be rewritten/retitled. _

_Thanks for sticking with me this far!_

sincerely,

Llama.


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